Outside the Beltway

John Kasich wants the United States Government to create an agency to spread ‘so-called ‘Judeo-Christian values.’

French officials have confirmed that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the man believed to be the plotter of last Friday’s attacks in Paris, was killed in a police raid early Wednesday morning. This doesn’t mean authorities in France or elsewhere in Europe are any less concerned about future attacks, though.

Even the people hired to advice Ben Carson on foreign policy seem to recognize that he is clueless on the subject, and has no apparent desire to educate himself.

Republicans insist that uttering the words “Radical Islamic Terrorism” is somehow important in the fight against ISIS and other terror networks, but it is entirely unclear what doing so would accomplish.

In the wake of the attacks in Paris, some people have argued that American solidarity with France, in contrast to seeming disregard for tragedy elsewhere, is something we should feel bad about. That argument is ridiculous.

Violence leads to irrational policy responses. Who does that help?

Syrian refugees have quickly become political footballs in the United States in the wake of the Paris attacks, and it’s become an exceedingly shameful display of pandering and fearmongering by a group of largely Republican politicians.

Confirming speculation that had already been all but confirmed, we now know that it was a bomb that brought down a Russian passenger jet on October 31st.

In the wake of the attacks in Paris, there’s a strong impulse to do “something,” but that doesn’t mean we should do something utterly foolish. And a no-fly zone would be utterly foolish.

France launched its first attacks against ISIS even as the investigation into Friday’s attacks continues, but it’s not clear that the retaliation really accomplished anything.

We are legally, morally, and practically obligated to respond. Let’s not do so stupidly.

We can draw a rather direct line from the Iraq war to the rise of ISIS.

France’s President blames ISIS, vows response, as death toll from Paris terror attacks stands at at least 127.

Ben Carson displays incoherence and ignorance on foreign policy issues that disqualify him from being considered a serious candidate for President of the United States.

President Obama is set to sign a military spending bill that effectively guarantees that his 2008 campaign promise to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will go unfulfilled.

A decision from Mexico’s Supreme Court has opened the door to legalization of marijuana south of the border, but it’s likely to proceed much slower than in the United States or Canada.

The investigation continues, but the consensus seems to be growing that Metrojet 9268 was taken out by a bomb.

America’s much touted international coalition against ISIS is, essentially a Coalition In Name Only.

President Obama has apparently come to the same realization as many of his predecessors, that trying to craft a legacy by single-handedly bring about “Middle East Peace” is largely a waste of time.

In a new book, former President George H.W. Bush is highly critical of two of his son’s closest advisers in the White House.

American intelligence officials are saying that a Russian passenger jet that went down over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula was most likely brought down by a bomb.

Will Canada ditch FPTP?

Another day, another military escalation in the Middle East.

Thanks mostly to well-founded demographic concerns, China is ending the ‘One Child’ policy, but it is probably too late for them to avoid the consequences of the forty year program.

President Obama is reportedly considering a plan that would put American forces much closer to the ground war in the war against ISIS.

The nurse who was detained by New Jersey officials in a quarantine despite not displaying any symptoms of Ebola is suing Chris Christie and others for civil liberties violations.

The U.S. and Russia have reached a much-needed deal to avoid inadvertent confrontations over the skies of Syria.

If pre-election polling is to be believed, Stephan Harper and Canada’s Conservative Party seem likely to lose power after Monday’s elections, but there are several reasons why this may not end up being the case.

A Dutch inquiry has largely confirmed what was widely believed about the fate of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17.

Missed it by that much.

With Russia now launching its own airstrikes in Syria, it’s become obvious that U.S. policy in the Syrian Civil War is irrational and contradictory. And Russia’s policy isn’t any better.

The Taliban dealt a major defeat to a numerically superior Afghan Army force, raising questions about just how well Afghanistan can defend itself on its own.

The seeds of the current peace deal date back to 2007-2008 (plus some longer-term background notes).

Peace between the FARC and the Colombian state appears nigh.

The Goo Goo Ga Joob Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

The U.S. is set to ramp up its contribution to dealing with the Syrian refugee crisis, but there’s a lot more we can do.

President Obama now has enough votes in the Senate, and probably the House, to ensure that Congress cannot block the nuclear deal with Iran.

Congress is set to debate the Iran nuclear deal next month, but as far as Europe is concerned the debate is already over.

Yesterday’s stock market drop led some Republican candidates to say some particularly dumb things.

Another poll shows that a majority of Americans oppose the Iranian nuclear deal, but the effort to defeat it in Congress is still likely to fail.