Outside the Beltway

US and regional leaders are hoping for a limited operation.

Or more charitably, forgets due to cognitive decline

A bold strike that threatens to escalate a regional war.

The fight has now expanded to a third front.

Two related questions.

But humans made all the decisions that matter.

Another escalation in the longstanding “shadow war.”

It’s what we do. I mean this is what we do.

The Secretary of Defense has outlined the parameters.

The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy.

The game of tit-for-tat continues.

The inevitable response to attacks on international shipping.

Israel and Iran’s proxies are on a collision course.

The BBC’s security correspondent thinks so.

The 21st century’s most brutal conflict and the laws of war.

World opinion and American opinion diverge significantly.

Tehran-backed forces are routinely shooting at American forces.

The war in Israel is in danger of expanding.

America’s involvement in the Israeli and Ukrainian war efforts is more than advertised.

A wrongheaded if longstanding position.

A controversial artillery round is being used effectively against Russian forces.

An unsavory practice that’s mostly legal.

Normalcy is not a bad thing.

An embarrassing photo demonstrates the perils of leading the free world.

Pundits like Thomas Friedman struggle with premature prognostication.

A former classmate is going to be one of the US military’s most senior leaders.

A possible murder plot in Colombia embedded into a problematic multi-decade narrative.

We may be out of Afghanistan but the ‘war on terror’ is likely to continue indefinitely.

The law and justice are frequently not the same thing.

Those expecting Bernie Sanders’ agenda are sorely disappointed.

Tunisia is freer but poorer than it was before Mohamed Bouazizi’s desperate act.

Maybe it’s not going to be Michèle Flournoy after all.

If a global pandemic and economic crisis weren’t enough excitement . . . .

An American drone strike has taken out the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a move likely to significantly increase tensions across the Middle East.

Five men have been sentenced to die by a Saudi Arabian court for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, but the parties who are really responsible are getting off scot-free.

If President Trump expected to get a political bump from the death of the leader of ISIS, he is most likely going to be disappointed.

There’s apparently big news in the fight against ISIS.

ISIS is quickly taking advantage of the abrupt American withdrawal from northern Syria.

So far at least, Elizabeth Warren is not doing a good job of articulating her foreign policy positions. That needs to change if she’s going to be a serious candidate.

President Trump has reportedly pledged to Chinese President Xi Jinping that the United States would not speak out against Chinese actions in Hong Kong.

It’s been one year since Jamal Khashoggi walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, never to be seen in public again. We are no closer to justice in his case than we were a year ago.

An empty column with a seed of one good point buried in a bunch of nothing.

As the Saudis continue to evaluate the impact of the weekend attack on a major oil facility, the Trump Administration tones down the anti-Iran rhetoric just a bit.

While the world continues to evaluate the impact of Saturday’s attack on a Saudi oil facility, tensions in the Persian Gulf are increasing.

Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed responsibility for a massive attack on an important Saudi oil facility.

Under the Trump Administration, the American commitment to human rights around the world is basically dead.

Part 1

The House of Representatives passed a defense spending bill that seeks to limit Presidential authority when it comes to striking Iran and aideing the Saudi war on Yemen.

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.

Eight months later, the President and his Administration continue to refuse to acknowledge the truth about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.