Outside the Beltway

There is no obvious strategy and even the expressed rationale makes no sense.

The United States can’t do any good in Syria, but we can do a lot of bad.

Even the United Nations has given up trying to maintain an accurate estimate.

Trump suggests US might seek to rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Without Congressional authorization, any attack on Syria would be illegal, but don’t expect Congress to do anything about it.

President Trump took to Twitter this morning and decided poke a stick in the eye of the Russian bear.

Controversies involving Jimmy Kimmel and “The Simpsons” highlight a perennial question.

The United States has several options in Syria. None of them are good and one of them would be disastrous.

A response to one of the most deadly chemical attacks in the Syrian civil war has come, probably from Israel. What’s next?

The answer is, of course, no. Really, this is a post about the wall as policy.

Trump’s tariff plan isn’t going over well in farm country, and that could cause problems for the GOP in November.

Dan Drezner notes some challenges on this topic, and I add some of my own thoughts.

The great negotiator in the White House is likely underestimating the tools available to Xi.

President Trump is continuing his dangerous and misguided trade war rhetoric,

Begun the trade wars have.

President Trump seems intent on walking away from the nuclear deal with Iran. If he does, he’ll be handing a gift to Iran and harming American national interests significantly.

More than 1200 refugees, mostly from Honduras, are trying to come to the United States. What should we do about it?

Another significant development on the Korean Peninsula.

After several days of speculation, it was confirmed that the leaders of North Korea and China had met in Beijing. This was meant as much for external consumption as it was the relationship between the two nations.

In selecting John Bolton as his National Security Adviser, Donald Trump has signaled to the world that he’s likely to take action that will only serve to make the world a more dangerous place.

A well-meaning journalist brushes off critiques by experts in the field. He owes it to his readers to keep learning.

Turkish security personnel who assaulted peaceful protestors in America’s capital will go free.

Americans actings as agents for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been working hard to manipulate the President.

The Nigerian terrorist group has released an unknown number of the 110 girls kidnapped from a boarding school last month.

To nobody’s surprise, Vladimir Putin has won re-election to another term as Russia’s President.

Theresa May’s government has not hit Russian oligarchs nearly as hard as they deserve because the UK benefits from turning a blind eye.

A contest with no serious challenger will make him the longest-serving Russian leader since Stalin.

Not unexpectedly, Russia has retaliated for Great Britain’s retaliation for Russia’s apparent assassination attempt on British history.

One of the supposed “adults” in the Trump administration has no class.

The Treasury Department has designated five entities and 19 individuals tied to the Russian government for cyber espionage.

The selection of Mike Pompeo as the next Secretary of State makes it more likely that President Trump will take the foolish and dangerous step of withdrawing the United States from the nuclear deal with Iran.

Theresa May has expelled 23 Russian diplomats and convened the North Atlantic Council.

While the nature of Rex Tillerson’s firing as Secretary of State was shocking in its abruptness, taken in context with the rocky nature of his tenure it was hardly surprising.

The British prime minister and outgoing US Secretary of State declared a red line crossed. There’s no reason to think this White House will follow through.

Rex Tillerson was an awful Secretary of State who simply had to go, It’s quite possible his successor will be an even greater disaster.

Nine years later, at least one member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee is admitting what seemed at the time a rather obvious fact.

Next up: Pompeo

By threatening to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran, Donald Trump is making it far less likely that any upcoming talks with North Korea will succeed.

Service members deployed to Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Tunisia, and Uganda qualify.

Talking to adversaries is a good idea. Of course, it matters how it is done.

The Russia investigation rolls on with more evidence of questionable conduct on the part of Trump and his team.

In 2017, there were ten Saudis on Forbes’ billionaires list. This year, there are none.

The President suffered a setback in his other job yesterday.

The Kim regime released a statement saying they were open to talks and would not conduct provocative tests while they were ongoing.

The circumstantial case for corruption by Kushner is growing.

After six months, Angela Merkel has apparently succeeded in forming a coalition government.

The latest, and most grave, example of the current tide of right-wing populism can be found in Italy.

Under Nelson Mandela’s leadership, the country made a smooth transition from apartheid. Now it’s going the way of Zimbabwe.

Shots fired: European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker threatens to fight back if President Trump imposes tariffs on steel and aluminum.