Outside the Beltway

The 45th President was a psychopath.

The United States and its NATO allies are in a dangerous standoff.

Trump’s last Secretary of Defense is being stymied by preclearance review.

On the op/ed page of WaPo, the 10 living former U.S. secretaries of defense say things that shouldn’t have to be said.

Dueling Washington Post op-eds are sowing confusion.

The legendary figure was in charge of strategic forecasting at the Pentagon for decades.

Michelle Obama can’t forgive Donald Trump for his role in spreading the racist birther conspiracy. I can’t say I blame her.

For intelligence and law enforcement to function, their leaders must remain outside the partisan fray—even in recent retirement.

Staffers are fleeing the administration like rats from a sinking ship.

A long standing policy against gay Scout Leaders has been repealed.

The first batch of email from Hillary Clinton regarding the 2012 attack in Benghazi have been released, and they don’t reveal anything we didn’t already know.

Robert Gates, the former Defense Secretary who now serves as head of the Boy Scouts Of America, has called for an end to that organizations ban on gay Scout Leaders.

One freshman Senator seems to think that war with Iran would be easy, just like Republicans used to think that war against Iraq would be easy.

A surprising change at the top of the military’s civilian chain of command.

Everyone knows that Israel has had nuclear weapons for decades. Don’t tell anyone—it’s a secret.

Former Utah governor and ambassador to China Jon Huntsman succeeds Chuck Hagel.

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

Former SecDef Robert Gates is among those who believes that the Iraq War unduly diverted attention from fighting the War On Terror.

A new book by former SecDef Robert Gates is making political waves in Washington power circles, but will it matter to ordinary Americans?

Raymond Pritchett longs for the good old days of Tom Donilan, Hillary Clinton, and Leon Panetta.

The Army and Navy are finally doing something about brass bloat.

The return of a really bad idea.

Last night, the Atlantic Council honored Hillary Rodham Clinton, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, John S. Watson, Tony Bennett, and Juanes.

Republican opposition to defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel reveals just how far the party’s thinking has drifted on foreign policy.

While no official announcements have been made, President Obama’s second term national security team appears to be taking shape.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is bemused that the generals who worked for him lived more lavish lifestyles than he did.

Two groups of former special operations soldiers are opposing Obama. Their military bonafides are not their most interesting credentials.

A group of former special operations and intelligence officers are criticizing President Obama for “Dishonorable Disclosures.”

The Fort Hood shooter is being ordered to shave his beard or have it forcibly removed. It’s rather silly.

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels will become president of Purdue University upon completion of his term in January. The faculty is apprehensive because Daniels has not had an academic career.

Despite their rhetoric, there would be few differences between a Romney Administration and an Obama Administration when it comes to foreign policy.

Last night’s State Of The Union Address contained another unfortunate example of the prevalence of militaristic rhetoric in domestic politics.

The speech did exactly what it was supposed to do: kick off Obama’s re-election campaign while disguised as a call for unity.

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

Michael Hastings has yet another credulous story attempting to smear the United States military.

Philip Hammond addressed the Atlantic Council this morning in advance of a meeting with Leon Panetta.

America’s greatest statesmen fear America’s political paralysis endangers our ability to lead the world.

My first piece for CNN has been posted at Fareed Zakaria’s Global Public Square.

The US handing Libya over to NATO is “like Beyonce saying she’s ceding control to Sasha Fierce!” – Jon Stewart

A few Republicans have picked up on John McCain’s criticism of critics of the Libya mission as being “isolationist.”

President Obama is expected to announce the withdrawal of the 30,000 Surge troops.