Outside the Beltway

A powerful Democratic Senator looks like he’s about to be in a whole lot of trouble.

The gang calling itself the Islamic State has destroyed another historical site.

Iraqi army and Iranian army in joint offensive to retake Tikrit.

By a wide margin Americans think it was wrong of the GOP to invite Israel’s Prime Minister to speak to Congress.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is apparently realizing that speaking to Congress may not be a good idea after all.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu’s speech to Congress is becoming even more partisan, much to the apparent chagrin of the Israelis.

Some Congressional Democrats are considering skipping a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a Joint Session Of Congress.

Has the legislative branch abdicated its responsibility in US foreign policy?

By inviting Prime Minister Netanyahu to address Congress, Republicans are damaging the U.S. relationship with Israel.

A big change in an important nation in the most volatile part of the world.

The price of oil is continuing to fall, but it won’t last forever.

There’s not a whole lot the United States can do to respond effectively and proportionally to North Korea’s hacking attack against Sony.

A little round of Qs and As on US-Cuban policy.

Rand Paul is one of the few Republicans who seems to be evaluating the new policy toward Cuba through something other than an outdated Cold War perspective.

Was Man Haron Monis a terrorist, or just a lone nut who had latched on to the rhetoric of ISIS to justify his own delusions? In the end, it hardly matters.

A hostage crisis has been unfolding overnight at a cafe in Sydney, Australia that has apparent links to international terrorism.

The Justice Department won’t force James Risen to testify in a legal investigation, but faces a new choice in a different case.

A dark and regrettable time in American history is finally seeing the light of day.

The idea that the U.S. does not negotiate with terrorists is simply not historically accurate, so should we be reconsidering the policy of not negotiating with ISIS for the release of Western hostages?

The CIA has always separated its core spying and analysis functions; that may soon change.

Despite the conciliatory language after Tuesday, it’s unlikely that much will change in Washington in the next two years.

Good news for two released Americans, but no clue what’s motivating North Korea’s latest actions.

The Supreme Court will decide if Congress can override American foreign policy when it comes to declaring who has dominion over Jerusalem.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul continues to challenge Republican orthodoxy on foreign policy, and that’s a good thing.

An idea whose time has come? Not really.

Who should own antiquity?

A new report from the New York Times confirms the adage that, in war, the first casualty is the truth.

It has nothing to do with winning, but it does have a lot to do with the foreign policy debate inside the Republican Party.

In the current situation, speaking out forcefully as some are demanding can only do more harm than good.

The Khorasan Group is, functionally, al Qaeda. Or is it?

Before leaving office, Hamid Karzai is once again biting that hand that has fed him for the past decade.

As we head into a new conflict, perhaps we ought to give more thought to fiscal issues than the President is to overall strategy.

While the world pays attention to Syria and Iraq, Yemen is once against lurching into chaos.

President Obama has opened a new front in his “war” against ISIS

Everyone knows that Israel has had nuclear weapons for decades. Don’t tell anyone—it’s a secret.

Iran and the United States are on the same side in the fight against ISIS, whether they like it or not.

After keeping his distance from them for three years, President Obama is placing much misplaced hope in the “moderate” Syrian rebels,

Despite the President’s assurances of an international coalition, the rest of the world doesn’t seem all that interested in joining the fight.

The Obama Administration’s legal justification for war against ISIS is laughably flimsy.

Obama’s current policy—tactical level strikes with no obvious long-term strategic aim—may well be the best we can hope for.

As talk begins of expanding the war against ISIS into Syria, it is becoming long past time for Congress to exercise its Constitutional function.

The General Accounting Office confirmed what seems clear to anyone who can read a statute.

Even with the passage of time, Watergate remains a singularly important event in American history

President Obama doesn’t seem to have any idea what he wants to do in Iraq.

Americans have become deeply cynical about government. To some extent that is a good thing, but it’s reaching unhealthy levels.