Outside the Beltway

Out of the blue, President Trump plans to pardon Dick Cheney’s former Chief of Staff, but the move seems to have more to do with James Comey than it does Scooter Libby.

President Trump is talking about pulling American troops out of Syria, but his own White House is contradicting him.

After initially praising the completion of a trade deal with South Korea, President Trump is now suggesting he may withhold final approval contingent on progress on talks with North Korea. This makes no sense whatsoever.

Another significant development on the Korean Peninsula.

After several days of speculation, it was confirmed that the leaders of North Korea and China had met in Beijing. This was meant as much for external consumption as it was the relationship between the two nations.

In selecting John Bolton as his National Security Adviser, Donald Trump has signaled to the world that he’s likely to take action that will only serve to make the world a more dangerous place.

From Europe to the Middle East, to Asia, America’s allies are concerned about what the selection of John Bolton as National Security Adviser means going forward. They should be, and so should every American.

President Trump continues to obsequiously praise Russian President Vladimir Putin

To nobody’s surprise, Vladimir Putin has won re-election to another term as Russia’s President.

The selection of Mike Pompeo as the next Secretary of State makes it more likely that President Trump will take the foolish and dangerous step of withdrawing the United States from the nuclear deal with Iran.

By threatening to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran, Donald Trump is making it far less likely that any upcoming talks with North Korea will succeed.

North Korea’s Dear Leader has baited the President of the United States into a trap.

The Kim regime released a statement saying they were open to talks and would not conduct provocative tests while they were ongoing.

John Bolton is leading a cry for preemptive war against North Korea.

With the Winter Olympics over, the next step on the Korean Peninsula is utterly unclear.

President Trump continues to make irresponsible and dangerous threats in connection with American policy toward North Korea.

President Trump has announced a new round of sanctions against North Korea, but they are unlikely to work given the unrealistic nature of the Administration’s current policy toward North Korea.

Why does the U.S. continue to pursue the seemingly impossible goal of denuclearization with regard to North Korea? In part, it’s because we’re still locked into thirty-year-old rhetoric.

Expecting North Korea to agree to diplomatic talks that are aimed at getting rid of their nuclear weapons is asking for the impossible, and ensuring there will be no progress on the diplomatic front for the foreseeable future.

My latest for The National Interest takes a contrarian view on the new National Defense Strategy.

When it comes to foreign policy, Donald Trump has no over-arching philosophy and little knowledge, so don’t expect anything approaching a coherent doctrine from his Administration.

The recent cooling of relations between North and South Korea has led to some talk of eventual reunification, but for many South Koreans that idea is a non-starter.

Americans were once largely united in their opinions about Israel and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. That’s not the case anymore.

President Trump is apparently pressuring the President of South Korea to give him the credit for talks between North and South Korea that the United States isn’t involved in at all.

While everyone is paying attention to the government shutdown, the Trump Administration is preparing for a never-ending, unwise, and unauthorized military commitment in Syria.

Thanks to Donald Trump, public opinion around the world about the United States is at its lowest level in ten years.

America’s closest allies sent a strong signal that they do not agree with President Trump on the nuclear deal with Iran.

Some progress on easing tensions between North and South Korea.

Donald Trump’s irrational tweets are once again focused on the leader of North Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is extending an olive branch of sorts to South Korea while simultaneously claiming success in achieving a nuclear deterrent.

2017 was quite a year. 2018 promises to be just as interesting.

Is it time to reexamine Presidential authority to launch a nuclear strike?

A Fox News host has debunked the Uranium One conspiracy theory being pushed by his own network.

A preemptive attack on North Korea would be illegal, immoral and, most importantly, insane.

On North Korea, there are two options, deterrence and war. And only one of those options makes sense.

Squirrel!

While the President of the United States continues to create chaos, Xi Jinping consolidates his power in China.

Despite the fact that everyone seems to agree that Iran is complying with the nuclear weapons deal, President Trump took steps that will undermine that agreement and do serious damage to American credibility around the world.

Donald Trump is continuing to up the ante in his rhetorical war against one of America’s most fundamental freedoms.

Donald Trump continues to be as astoundingly ignorant about the most powerful weapons the U.S. military possesses as he was as a candidate.

Reports are indicating that President Trump will decertify the nuclear weapons deal with Iran. This would be a foolish and potentially dangerous mistake.

Tensions continue to rise between the White House and Foggy Bottom.

Donald Trump is undermining his own Secretary of State’s efforts on North Korea, and he doesn’t seem to care.

In a marked departure from previous American Presidents, Donald Trump delivered a highly belligerent speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

Notwithstanding his promises during the campaign, President Trump seems likely to go forward with sanctions reductions required under the nuclear deal with Iran.

The Trump Administration’s effort to impose sanctions against North Korea suffered a significant defeat in the United Nations Security Council.

Absent significant changes, expecting normal diplomatic relationships with the DPRK is a pipe dream.

More provocative action from North Korea, and another reminder that there are no easy answers to the problems represented by the Kim regime.

The people who would most immediately be impacted by a war on the Korean peninsula don’t seem quite so concerned. Perhaps we should take a cue from them.

Things are getting far more complicated on the Korean Peninsula. Diplomacy isn’t working, and a military option would most likely lead to disaster.