Outside the Beltway

The impact of the death of Osama bin Laden on the domestic politics is likely to be minimal at best.

Congress is coming back to Washington and gas prices continue to rise. Expect a lot of demagoguery, but very little in the way of solutions.

An aide’s compliment about the president “leading from behind” has generated controversy.

The NYT says it’s time for U. S. advisers and military air traffic controllers on the ground in Libya.

Events in Syria, and the world’s response to them, are revealing the moral bankruptcy of the justification for the war in Libya.

The Pentagon is frustrated that the Obama administration doesn’t “seem to understand what military force can and cannot do.”

One can almost hear the pitter-patter of American boots in the distance.

Once again, President Obama has ignored Candidate Obama’s promises to reign in the Presidential powers assumed by George W. Bush.

Francis Fukuyama: “In the developed world, we take the existence of government so much for granted that we sometimes forget how difficult it was to create.”

A version of a piece I wrote Wednesday, titled “NATO’s Death Greatly Exaggerated,” has finally been published at Foreign Policy under the title “Back in the Saddle: How Libya Helped NATO Get Its Groove Back.”

To borrow a phrase: budgeting is the science of muddling through (with an emphasis on the “muddling” far more than the “science.”

Andrew Bacevich refers to Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice, and Samantha Power as “the Three Harpies.”

Should transparency stop at the water’s edge?

Why did then-Governor Mike Huckabee’s office destroy all its office hard drives shortly before leaving office?

Defense Secretary Gates hinted this week that the U.S. would stay in Iraq if the Iraqis wanted. It doesn’t seem like they do.

Continuing problems with the coalition operation in Libya reinforce an old military adage: You fight like you train.

Remember when President Obama said there would be “no boots on the ground” in Libya? You didn’t actually believe that, did you?

The re-emergence of Obama foreign policy advisor Samantha Power to prominence has brought critics to the forefront

President Obama says he acted in Libya to avert an imminent genocide, but there’s no evidence that any such thing was about to occur.

Modern life requires us to put a high degree of trust in those to whom we delegate responsibility

A NATO airstrike killed 13 rebel fighters, who were mistaken for Gaddafi’s forces. Apparently, they were shooting at NATO planes.

The ability of people to put aside rational judgment when it comes to political figures is, in a word, puzzling.

Politicians in office have a nasty habit of behaving completely differently than they promise on the campaign trail.

President Obama has pledged no slaughter and no ground troops for Libya. He may well be forced to pick one.