Outside the Beltway

I’ve made the sad discovery that longtime friend of the blog John Burgess passed away on February 16, 2016.

John Bolton is leading a cry for preemptive war against North Korea.

Yet more absurdity from Brussels, where regulators seemingly don’t understand how the Internet works.

The President provided a contender for most ignorant tweet this morning, as he makes a proposal that would disrupt the global economy.

President Trump has announced that he’ll be imposing significant tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. This is an unwise decision.

President Trump appeared to change positions on several gun control ideas, but he probably doesn’t mean it.

Few Western democracies have anything quite like our First Amendment. This is a case where the United States gets it right. 

The White House chief of staff has downgraded the President’s son-in-law’s access to classified information. We’ll see how long that lasts.

China’s Xi Jinping solidified his hold on power well into the next decade over the weekend.

Mexico’s President canceled a visit to the United States for the second time since Donald Trump became President due to a continued disagreement over who will pay for Trump’s border wall.

A mass wave of mainland Chinese immigration to Australia has led to discrimination against Taiwanese expats there.

Some thoughts on the biggest Marvel blockbuster yet. [Modest spoilers]

President Trump continues to make irresponsible and dangerous threats in connection with American policy toward North Korea.

President Trump has announced a new round of sanctions against North Korea, but they are unlikely to work given the unrealistic nature of the Administration’s current policy toward North Korea.

Continuing a long-standard tradition, the Trump Administration claims it doesn’t need to get legal authorization to keep American troops in Syria.

Pork barrel politics is complicating Germany’s replacement of its 1970s fighter jet.

A few key observations on the bigger picture.

More security clearance problems for the White House.

Poland’s new Holocaust legislation just keeps sounding worse and worse.

Israeli police have recommended that charges be brought against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Whether that damages him politically remains to be seen.

Why does the U.S. continue to pursue the seemingly impossible goal of denuclearization with regard to North Korea? In part, it’s because we’re still locked into thirty-year-old rhetoric.

More than a year into the Trump Presidency, dozens of White House personnel lack proper security clearances.

As Brexit negotiations go on and the consequences of Britain leaving the European Union become clearer, some Britons are starting to ask for a chance at a second referendum.

A Federal Judge In Kansas has blocked enforcement of a state law barring anyone who does business with the state from engaging in a boycott of Israel.

Last week, the President was calling for national unity. This week, he called political opponents “treasonous.”

The President talked about national unity last night, but given his own rhetoric as a candidate and as a President, it’s a call that seems to be hypocritical.

Once again, President Trump is going soft on Russia. Why? I’ll leave that up to the reader to decide.

International travel to the United States has declined since Donald Trump took office, and it’s having a measurable impact on the economy.

The Trump Administration has acted in a manner to create the impression that there is “no daylight” between the United States and Israel. This is a myth, and pursuing such a goal poses real dangers for America’s national interests.

The recent cooling of relations between North and South Korea has led to some talk of eventual reunification, but for many South Koreans that idea is a non-starter.

Donald Trump is wildly unpopular in the United Kingdom, and that’s apparently causing him to eschew visiting the United States’s most important ally.

America’s closest European allies are rebuffing the Trump Administration’s efforts to renegotiate the nuclear deal with Iran. They’re right to do so.

President Trump has alienated America’s allies and friends, and they are acting accordingly.

With the Administration set to commit the United States to a forever war in Syria, it’s time for Congress to act.

Americans were once largely united in their opinions about Israel and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. That’s not the case anymore.

Just over one year after President Trump’s foolish and ill-informed decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Canada has stepped in to rescue the deal.

President Trump is apparently pressuring the President of South Korea to give him the credit for talks between North and South Korea that the United States isn’t involved in at all.

While everyone is paying attention to the government shutdown, the Trump Administration is preparing for a never-ending, unwise, and unauthorized military commitment in Syria.

With just hours to go, it seems increasingly unlikely that the Senate can reach a deal to keep the government open.

Thanks to Donald Trump, public opinion around the world about the United States is at its lowest level in ten years.

Norway is poised to make some big changes to its drug laws.

With only days to go, Congress seems unable to come up with either a funding deal for the Federal Government or a solution to the DACA issue.

Once again, President Trump opens his mouth and proceeds to insult a good part of the world while embarrassing the country.

America’s closest allies sent a strong signal that they do not agree with President Trump on the nuclear deal with Iran.

Some progress on easing tensions between North and South Korea.

POTUS decided to start the New Year by insulting Pakistan over Twitter.

Anti-government protests are spreading in Iran.