Outside the Beltway

Ten American sailors detained by Iranian forces late Tuesday were released early today, something that seems to clearly demonstrate the value of diplomacy.

The execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric has led to a rapid deterioration of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Why hasn’t anyone else thought of this?

NATO is extending full membership to the tiny nation of Montenegro, and there doesn’t seem to be a good reason why they’re doing it.

Hillary Clinton’s recently announced policies toward the ISIS fight are as incoherent and misguided as President Obama’s and those of her Republican opponents.

America’s much touted international coalition against ISIS is, essentially a Coalition In Name Only.

President Obama has apparently come to the same realization as many of his predecessors, that trying to craft a legacy by single-handedly bring about “Middle East Peace” is largely a waste of time.

In a new book, former President George H.W. Bush is highly critical of two of his son’s closest advisers in the White House.

Any discussion of the Iran deal has to be about realistic alternatives, not fantasies.

The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia has seen better days.

Rand Paul bucks Republican orthodoxy on Iraq, Libya, and negotiations with Iran.

More than ever before, even mild criticism of Israel seems to be verboten among Republicans.

President Obama will ask Congress to authorize a war he started six months ago.

Yesterday’s apparent terrorist shooting in Ottawa reveals again a phenomenon that seems difficult if not impossible to stop in advance.

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

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

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

Basically, the answer is that nobody really thought there was much of a risk that a plane could be shot down.

Some questions for the Republicans who would be President about the actions of the last Republican President.

Twenty-five years after his seminal “End of History” article, Francis Fukuyama reflects on its legacy.

An imperfect timetable, but better than nothing.

A new poll indicates that most Americans don’t want to see the United States intervening overseas.

Hillary Clinton’s numbers aren’t at the incredibly high levels they used to be, but they were never going to stay that high anyway.

In retrospect, and in comparison with other recent Presidents, George Herbert Walker Bush’s four years in office were pretty darn good.

Veteran newsman Garrick Utley has died from prostate cancer at the age of 74.

Dave Weigel has identified “The funniest part of Robert Gates’ very serious new memoir.”

The U.S. sends a mostly weak signal to the Egyptian military.

The destruction of Syria’s stockpiles will be slow and laborious even if all goes according to script.

Why are chemical weapons a “red line” in a war where so many have been killed?

Bombing Country B to “send a message” to Country A is not a valid argument for bombing Country B.

West Point graduates account for nearly one in fifty deaths in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rather than asking whether it was “worth it,” the important historical question regarding the Civil War is whether it could have been avoided.

Last January 1, some of us made a series of predictions. Here’s how we did.

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

With Mitt Romney and Barack Obama basically saying the same things about foreign policy, it’s time to take a look at an alternative.

An attack on Iran’s nuclear program would be far more complicated than a one-off attack.

A new IAEA report may make an Israeli strike on Iran in the near future more likely than it has ever been.

Some troubling, sad, and downright puzzling stories

Two centuries ago, a war that makes less and less sense with the passage of time began.

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?