Outside the Beltway

Rick Perry and Rand Paul are highlighting what looks to be a coming battle inside the GOP over foreign policy.

My latest for The National Interest, “Europe’s Free Ride on the American-Defense Gravy Train,” has posted.

The Kentucky Senator and former Vice-President are at the front of a battle that will unfold inside the GOP as we head toward 2016.

Lawmakers and journalists don’t understand the civil service.

Not surprisingly, Bill Clinton is the most admired recent President according to a new poll, but his predecessor seems to be underrated.

Twenty-five years after his seminal “End of History” article, Francis Fukuyama reflects on its legacy.

For the fourth time in 30 years, an American President spoke at Normandy to honor a day of sacrifice and triumph.

Today’s foreign-policy disputes rarely consider the way America’s response to one crisis might affect another.

Is “Finlandization” a viable option for Ukraine?

A new poll indicates that most Americans don’t want to see the United States intervening overseas.

In retrospect, and in comparison with other recent Presidents, George Herbert Walker Bush’s four years in office were pretty darn good.

At least on Capitol Hill, the political middle is dead and buried.

Americans are skeptical about getting involved in the Ukraine crisis. This isn’t a surprise.

Russian invasion or legitimate secessionist movement? And does it matter?

Veteran newsman Garrick Utley has died from prostate cancer at the age of 74.

The bizarre conservative love affair with Vladimir Putin continues.

The Cold War may be over, but the negative opinions in the U.S. regarding Russia and its leadership seem to have continued.

Vladimir Putin seems to be getting a lot of love from cultural conservatives in the United States.

Does a determination that NSA data collection practices are likely unconstitutional mean that Edward Snowden’s actions were, in some sense, justified?

David Brooks thinks that the problem with American Government is that the Presidency isn’t strong enough.

The defense authorization law requires the Defense Department to go back to a single camouflage pattern.

The Obama-Castro handshake at Mandela’s funeral has caused a bit of an uproar.

Some on the American right have a very odd view of both Nelson Mandela and the Apartheid regime he fought against.

There are many choices in dealing with Iran’s nuclear program there are many choices, but some are better than others.

The U.S. position on China’s new air defense zone is exceedingly clear. The question is where it goes from here.

The most important leader to come out of Africa in the 20th Century, and perhaps in all of history, has died.

Conservatives have their own Kennedy myth to compete with the myth of Camelot.

Robert Kagan warns of “a changing world order.” But he’s grasping at rather thin straws.

Relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia seem to have soured in recent years.

If the Syrian civil war is like other civil wars, it’s not ending any time soon.

Tom Clancy, author of dozens of bestselling military thriller novels, has died aged 66.

Presidents have gotten away with ignoring Congress when it comes to foreign military adventures for a very long time.

The Army and Navy are finally doing something about brass bloat.

Andrew Bacevich argues, persuasively, that “absence of leverage does not preclude options” with respect to Egypt.

David C. Jones, who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Carter and Reagan, has died.

Chris Christie waded into the debate going on in the GOP over foreign policy. His comments were less than helpful to say the least.