Outside the Beltway

The US spends a lot on defense relative to, well, the rest of the world.

Turkey has had elections, and the ruling AKP has retained a majority in parliament. The next major issue appears to be constitutional reform.

It appears that the Syrian military is starting to fracture. Exactly how widespread this is remains to be seen.

To paraphrase Rumsfeld: you go to the ballot box with the candidate you have, not the candidate you want, or would like to have.

More on the whole “republic not a democracy” discussion.

Palin has some odd things to say about US history.

President Obama doubled down in his speech before this year’s AIPAC conference. Why he did so only he understands.

Once again, an American President thinks he can bring peace to the Middle East.

Elias Isquith proclaims my Atlantic essay “How Perpetual War Became U.S. Ideology” to be “a total disaster.”

Santorum has an interesting theory about the decline of great powers.

A major law firm has withdrawn from defending DOMA in Court, and a public controversy has erupted.

The NYT says it’s time for U. S. advisers and military air traffic controllers on the ground in Libya.

Yes, please secure your home networks. But also: perhaps the police need to reevaluate their tactics.

Francis Fukuyama: “In the developed world, we take the existence of government so much for granted that we sometimes forget how difficult it was to create.”

Two new polls show that the public supports the budget deal, but has no idea what to do to solve our long term problems.

Public disclosure of campaign contributions makes it easier for incumbents to pressure backers of their opponent.

Modern life requires us to put a high degree of trust in those to whom we delegate responsibility

Politicians in office have a nasty habit of behaving completely differently than they promise on the campaign trail.

The “Obama Doctrine,” such as it is, seems to boil down to moral self-certainty combined with a glaring ignorance of reality. That’s a dangerous combination.

The antiwar movement has been strangely silent despite the fact that U.S. foreign policy hasn’t really changed that much since Barack Obama became President.

Egyptian voters have approved amendments to Egypt’s constitution.

U.S. officials are making clear that the current mission in Libya may not lead to the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s rule. If that’s the case, then why are we there in the first place?

There are many opportunities to go to war. Here’s a guide for choosing between them.

Did President Obama pull off a diplomatic masterstroke? Or is he muddling through?

Regardless of one’s preferences in terms of endgame in Wisconsin, democracy will win out.

President Obama is once again catching flak for his leisure activities.

Was the GOP’s maneuver legit? And what’s next?

Wisconsin Republicans stripped state employees of collective bargaining rights without the Democratic senators who fled the state to prevent a quorum.

The funny thing is that the quorum-busting in WI is more like a filibuster ought to be: a true delaying tactic that eventually has to give way to a democratic outcome.

Mitt Romney starts his 2012 run as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. But, in reinventing himself yet again, the “authenticity” issue that troubled many of us in 2008 looms again.

Why can’t the Wisconsin Stand-off end in compromise?

The uprisings in the Arab world have led some to suggest that the Middle East isn’t “ready” to be free. They’re wrong.

Egypt takes another step towards constitutional reform.

Calls are coming from both sides of the aisle for the U.S. to do “something” about the situation in Libya. It would be better if we didn’t get involved.

There are a lot of issues on the table, so to speak, in the WI situation. Here I try to entangle them a bit.