Outside the Beltway

Benjamin Wallace-Wells wonders with some irritation “Why Henry Kissinger Never Goes Away.”

Snow days are no longer automatic vacation days for federal workers.

Dr. Alexandros Petersen, a scholar of Eurasian energy and a former colleague at the Atlantic Council, was killed in a bomb blast in Kabul.

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

Why is Apple unable to meet the demand for its products?

My latest for The National Interest has posted.

The award-winning political science group blog The Monkey Cage is moving under the masthead of the Washington Post:

In both Egypt and Syria, it’s damned if we do and damned if we don’t.

Your humble host is making a career move.

The president’s 2008 rival has gone from bitter foe to go-to deal broker.

Is the White House distancing itself from the President’s “red line” remarks about Syria?

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

A sensational story, little solid information, and instant analysis are a bad combination

The Hagel confirmation, like Obama’s election, was big news to some avid news consumers.

The smear campaign against defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel has taken a bizarre turn.

Tim Kane continues his campaign against the US military’s antiquated personnel system.

Ross Wilson, former US ambassador to Turkey, says yesterday’s suicide attack on our embassy in Ankara “was no Benghazi.”

My latest for The National Interest, “Ignoring the Hagel Hearing Farce,” has posted.

John Cornyn tells Jennifer Rubin that he’ll oppose the confirmation of his former colleague, Chuck Hagel, for Secretary of Defense.

The National Intelligence Council has released its quadrennial strategic forecast, Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds.

NATO has agreed to deploy Patriot missiles along the Turkey-Syria border to protect Turkish airspace and territory, while making clear no escalation is intended.

Were you impacted by Hurricane Sandy? If so, how did you fare?

Farhad Manjoo is trying the demo version of Microsoft Word 2013—which he likes—but notices something out of place.

The Koch brothers will spend more money in this election cycle than the entire McCain campaign did in 2008.

Following yesterday’s shoot-down of a Turkish F-5 by Syria has once again raised the specter of NATO action under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. It’s not going to happen.

The United States may have slowed down Iran’s nuclear program without firing a shot–not counting the one at our own foot.

My first piece for the Christian Science Monitor, co-authored with my Atlantic Council collegue Barry Pavel, has been posted.

The Atlantic Council honored UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Britain’s Prince Harry, Unilever CEO and philanthropist Paul Polman, the enlisted men and women of the United States Armed Forces, and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter.

My latest for The National Interest,Insurmountable Obstacles in Afghanistan, has been posted.

Through a stroke of bad luck, the Atlantic Council server was down during a critical Google update

Russia is the most significant geopolitical player actively opposing significant American interests.

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

President Obama’s Pentagon is planning for an unlikely war with China rather than the small wars America will inevitably fight.

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

We held Kim’s services this morning. These were my prepared remarks.

We’re hearing the howls of a wounded bear.

I’ll be liveblogging tonight’s Republican national security debate over at RealClearWorld along with a solid team of foreign policy analyst

This is looking less crazy, less sudden, and less an exercise in presidential whimsy than it seemed.

A mustachioed German has once again sent the world into panic. This time, it involves euros not tanks.

C. Boyden Gray, former White House Counsel and EU Ambassador, has signed on as the chair of the Jon Huntsman policy team, Mark Halperin reports.

While President Obama has had some amusing gaffes on his trip to London, including getting the year wrong in the guest book and an awkward toast to the Queen, his speech to Parliament today hit all the right notes.

Bowing to the inevitable, Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned overnight as head of the IMF amidst high-level calls for his ouster in wake of a rape scandal.

Changing our relationship status to Complicated.

Ten days after sending American forces into kinetic military action in Libya, President Obama addressed the nation to explain “what we’ve done, what we plan to do, and why this matters to us.”

Jorge Benitez has written a useful Libya Primer: Who is In Charge of Allied Forces? The short answer: No one.