Outside the Beltway

Thomas Ricks makes the case that JFK was the worst President of his century but his argument misses the mark.

Tim Pawlenty’s foreign policy speech shows him siding with the hawks, and joining in the neocon distortion of Reagan’s legacy.

One foreign policy analyst argues that President Obama should look to Nixon’s Vietnam withdrawal strategy for ideas on Afghanistan.

For the first time since the end of World War II, the GOP is wrestling with two diametrically opposed visions of foreign affairs.

Left-wing religious groups are firing salvos against the Republican Party on the basis of Ayn Rand’s “anti-Christian” influence.

The jobs market has been weak for much longer than just the past two years.

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.

Part of a speech that Mitch Daniels made in 2009 is setting off a firestorm among some conservative bloggers.

Once again, Congressional abdication has led to an Executive Branch power grab.

Newt Gingrich says the coming presidential election will be the most important since the Civil War.

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

Matt Eckel’s takeaway from my Atlantic piece on How Perpetual War Became U.S. Ideology is that we need a peer competitor.

The 60 day deadline for Presidential discretion under the War Powers Act will expire next week. Congress won’t do anything about it.

Why the United States has found itself in a seemingly endless series of wars over the past two decades.

An aide’s compliment about the president “leading from behind” has generated controversy.

President Obama’s grand coalition against Libya is a lot less than meets the eye.

Operation Odyssey Dawn has resurrected the eternal battle over what limits there are, and should be, on the President’s ability to use military force without Congressional authorization.

Another survey shows that Americans don’t know much about their own history, but does it really matter?

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?

The CNN Effect has given away to Twitter Standard Time.

The top ranks of the military are whiter and decidedly more male than the country as a whole. Should that change?

The American right has become infected with the notion that Barack Obama isn’t just wrong, but evil. That won’t be healthy in the long run.

Ronald Reagan would have turned 100 today. Here are some thoughts on his legacy.

The events in Egypt have led some to ask if the mere act of cutting off access to the Internet is, in itself, an human rights violation.

With just over a week to go before the 112th Congress convenes, battle lines are already being drawn in battle over the defense budget.

The Presidency has lost the aura of mystique that used to surround it, and that’s a good thing.

One of the most active American diplomats of the past twenty-five years has passed away.

Minor fluctuation in tax rates is not the most significant thing happening in the world’s largest economy.

The Republican talking point that lowering taxes lowers spending and raising taxes increases spending is denied by reality.

North Korea has unveiled to the world a new nuclear processing facility that puts back on the table the question of just what we should, or can, do about the fact that a rogue state possesses nuclear weapons and wants to build more.

NATO-Russia cooperation on missile defense is a welcome step forward.

Conservative Republicans who are typically deferential to the military are ignoring the advice of the military leadership on the new START Treaty.

Virginia Senator Jim Webb is the last of a dying breed of Democrats, but his party may need him if it wants to remain competitive anywhere outside of a Blue State.

If the polling is anywhere close to accurate, a Republican wave will come crashing down today, repudiating the first two years of the Obama administration. What does it mean?

World Politics Review has published a special issue on “NATO’s Identity Crisis” ahead of next month’s Lisbon summit and the unveiling of a new Strategic Concept. I contributed the lead essay, “NATO in an Age of Austerity.”

Venezuela have reached a series of agreement on energy. Should the US be concerned?

Are we facing a Sharia take-over?

Daniel Larison’s “The Case Against NATO” makes compelling reading. In my New Atlanticist post “The Case Against the Case Against NATO,” I explain why it’s wrong.

Would non-violence really have failed against the Nazis? History suggests maybe not….

Mary Anastasia O’Grady takes Jeffery Golodberg to task over his interview with Fidel Castro. Much hilarity (or, at least, poor analysis) ensues.

America’s mission in Iraq is shifting from an active combat role to a smaller security presence. But the war that gripped our attention for years is now off the radar screen.

Robert Gates says he wants to retire next year, but will the call of duty cause him to stay longer ?

Barack Obama has significantly widened his predecessor’s global war on terrorism, even if he’s no longer calling it that.

What impact will Judge Walker’s decision on Proposition 8 have on politics in 2010 and beyond ?

How does the Electoral College influence policy and campaigning?