Outside the Beltway

The Afghanistan War is officially eleven years old today.

Slowly but surely, we’re giving up on Afghanistan.

Because some things are worth reinforcing.

My latest for The New Republic, “America’s Scandalous Drone War Goes Unmentioned in the Campaign,” is out.

Sacrificing our principles in the face of mob violence is never a good idea.

The Administration’s decision to stick with the meme that the Benghazi attack was about a movie becomes more puzzling.

The Obama Administration’s response to the protests in the Muslim world has been entirely wrongheaded.

The Romney campaign’s critique of the President’s foreign policy record is weak, and based on bad history.

Today’s convention activities will include the opening salvos of an attack on the President’s foreign policy. This strikes me as a mistake.

A new book by one of the Navy SEALs involved in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden differs significantly from the official version put forward by the government.

The candidates aren’t talking about the war in Afghanistan very much, but that’s mostly because the American people don’t want them to.

Charges that the Obama administration leaked classified information about the Osama bin Laden raid for political gain are bunk.

CFR’s Laurie Garrett has a piece in The Atlantic headlined “Good Job, CIA: Your Pakistan Vaccine Plot Helped Bring Polio Back From the Brink of Eradication.”

Were the Colonists wrong to toss aside the British Empire so casually?

From one Nobel Peace Prize winner to another.

US Army Special Forces are the best we have at working with far-flung villagers. Are they good enough?

The president has come a long way from his days as a “liberal law professor who campaigned against the Iraq war.”

The United States may have slowed down Iran’s nuclear program without firing a shot–not counting the one at our own foot.

In office less than a day, Francois Hollande has already been forced to admit he can’t withdraw French forces from Afghanistan by the end of the year.

Is there a Romney Doctrine?

Iran’s path to a nuclear bomb isn’t as easy as most think, Jacques Hymans argues in the current Foreign Policy.

My first piece for The New Republic, “Why the Obama Administration’s Drone War May Soon Reach a Tipping Point,” is up.

The Obama campaign’s cheap politicizing of the SEAL raid that took out bin Laden is unseemly. And unnecessary.

Russia is the most significant geopolitical player actively opposing significant American interests.

“Asian” has an entirely different connotation in the UK than it does in the US.

My latest for The National Interest, “Ending the Afghan Slog,” has posted.

In order to succeed on the right today, you have to do more than just say the President is wrong. You have to say that he’s evil.

We need to have opinions on a subject as serious as war with Iran.

Once again, Ron Paul showed last night why he could never win the Republican nomination.

Huntsman’s tactics reinforced his fellow Republicans’ natural skepticism of his candidacy.

How far should the press go in challenging assertions by politicians?

Bernard Finel argues that those of us arguing against war in Iran are doing it wrong. He’s right.

Yesterday’s encounter between Jon Huntsman and Newt Gingrich was less than it could have been.

A list of international contingencies to worry about in the coming year. Handy as a stocking stuffer!