Outside the Beltway

Joe Biden delivered his first major foreign policy address of the campaign. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than what we have right now.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has a challenger. Much like 2014, though, it’s far too early to start writing his political obituary.

President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un met at the Demilitarized Zone for what amounts to their third summit in a year. As with the previous two, there was nothing of substance accomplished.

The Trump Administration unveiled new sanctions against Iran yesterday. They’re unlikely to accomplish the entirely unrealistic goals the President claims to have in mind.

Former Congressman Joe Sestak is the 24th Democrat to enter the race for President.

As if the situation in the Persian Gulf weren’t already tense enough, the Iranians shot down an American reconnaissance drone late yesterday

As we head toward a potential crisis in the Persian Gulf, the consequences of the President’s lies are coming home to roost.

Bret Stephens (and others) are overreacting.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg laid out his foreign policy platform in a speech this week. It’s certainly an improvement over the current President.

This time on Venezuela

Congressman Duncan Hunter Jr’s defense of campaign law violations against him suffered a big setback yesterday when his wife and co-Defendant entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Hours before departing the United States for a pomp and circumstance filled State Visit to the United Kingdom, President Trump sticks his foot in his mouth.

Strong public records laws, not an excess of weirdness, has driven a sad meme.

This year’s graduating class at West Point includes a record number of African-American women.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been indicted on seventeen counts under the Espionage Act arising out of his role in the Chelsea Manning affair.

President Trump is reportedly planning to pardon several American servicemen convicted of war crimes, an action that would be an insult to everyone who has ever worn an American uniform.

A new poll indicates that at least some Democrats continue to hold Biden’s 2002 vote in favor of the Iraq War.

The White House claims to want to talk to Iran but the President’s actions make clear that negotiation is the furthest thing from his mind.

Disturbing news in the Eddie Gallagher case.

Chelsea Manning, who was being held in jail for refusing to comply with a Grand Jury subpoena, was released yesterday but it’s likely to only be a temporary freedom.

Valerie Plame, the former CIA agent whose identity was outed during the Bush Administration, is running for Congress in New Mexico.

While he campaigned on a message of restraint, Donald Trump has largely adopted the interventionist foreign policies of his predecessors.

The Trump Administration is taking an unnecessarily militaristic approach toward Iran, and that poses real dangers for the country and for the Middle East.

Republicans have aborted President Trump’s lofty plan for a $2 trillion infrastructure deal just days after it was conceived.

All three children of the next head of the Army are following in his footsteps.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other firebrands aren’t steering the ship. Yet.

Newly discovered evidence shows that foreign governments have expanded their leasing of space from at least one Trump-owned office building in New York City.

The Trump Administration’s policies toward Iran aren’t going to work, but that’s because they aren’t supposed to work.

Sunday’s attacks in Sri Lanka make it clear that the claim that ISIS has been defeated are nowhere close to being true.

In military justice Bizarroland, Rep Duncan Hunter intentionally commits “reverse UCI.”

ISIS is claiming responsibility for Sunday’s attacks in Sri Lanka, a strong sign that the claims by the Trump Administration that it had largely defeated the group were not true.

Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts is the latest Democrat to enter an already crowded field.

The Wall Street Journal tries, and fails, to defend President Trump’s indefensible veto of the Congressional resolution regarding the war on Yemen.

Maybe there was a better way to get his point across?

President Trump has not surprisingly vetoed a Congressional resolution to limit American support for the Saudi war on Yemen. His defense for doing so is utterly absurd.

The Wikileaks founder has been detained by London authorities after 7 years hiding in Ecuador’s embassy.

Strategic move or pointless provocation?

After a flood of stories saying the former Vice President is unsuitable for the modern era, the inevitable pushback is happening.

The legendary figure was in charge of strategic forecasting at the Pentagon for decades.

A WaPo writer takes a round-about path to demonstrate the obvious.

Massachusetts Democrat Seth Moulton makes an argument familiar to OTB readers.

Reason’s Nick Gillespie makes an interesting case but I don’t buy it.

In the end, the reason the Hanoi Summit failed is because the Trump Administration is pursuing an unattainable goal.

American military intervention in Venezuela would make the situation in that country worse, not better.

US policy is creating nonconstructive confrontation.

Rather than pulling completely out of Syria the United States will be leaving behind a token force of about 200 troops. This is a mistake.

The Trump Administration continues to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe, can it ever be repaired?

Walter Jones, a former supporter of the Iraq War who became one of the most prominent anti-war voices in Congress, has passed away at the age of 76. He will be missed.

Lyndon LaRouche, an eight-time Presidential candidate who ran a cult-like organization that spread bizarre conspiracy theories, has died at 96.

The arguments against withdrawing American forces from Afghanistan are becoming weaker and weaker.