Outside the Beltway

The execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric has led to a rapid deterioration of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Marco Rubio has been getting a lot of love lately from both conservatives and so-called ‘establishment’ Republicans, but his seemingly meager ground game in early states is raising doubts about his campaign.

NATO is extending full membership to the tiny nation of Montenegro, and there doesn’t seem to be a good reason why they’re doing it.

Hillary Clinton’s recently announced policies toward the ISIS fight are as incoherent and misguided as President Obama’s and those of her Republican opponents.

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.

Another day, another military escalation in the Middle East.

Once a candidate that many believed could become the Republican nominee, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is dropping out of the race for President.

With the exception of Rand Paul, the foreign policy discussion at last night’s debate was about as bad as you’d expect.

What was promoted as major foreign policy speech by Donald Trump turned out to be more substance-free stream-of-consciousness rambling from an egomaniac.

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

To lose something one has to have it in the first place. (It is pretty basic logic).

In bringing Holocaust imagery into the debate over the Iran nuclear deal, Mike Huckabee has displayed the intellectual bankruptcy of his position.

Good news for the President.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal enters the Presidential race today, but it’s hard to see how he even manages to become a plausible candidate.

Iraq seems to becoming a political headache for yet another member of the Bush family.

Like most Republicans, Jeb Bush either fails or refuses to recognize what an utter, unjustifiable disaster his brother’s decision to invade Iraq actually was.

Jeb Bush told a group of supporters that his brother is his top Middle East policy adviser. This strikes me as being a bad idea.

Saudi Arabia’s new King has shaken up the Royal Family, and that could have interesting results.

Like nearly all of his fellow Republicans, Jeb Bush has adopted the disastrous foreign policy views that typified his brother’s Presidency.

Conditioning an Iranian nuclear deal on recognition of Israel is foolish, unrealistic, and very bad diplomacy.

One freshman Senator seems to think that war with Iran would be easy, just like Republicans used to think that war against Iraq would be easy.

Yet another probable rift between the U.S. and Israel over Iran.

Rand Paul now says he signed the Cotton Letter to strengthen the Administration’s bargaining position.

Daniel Larison is far less ambivalent about our war on ISIL than me.

President Obama will ask Congress to authorize a war he started six months ago.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu’s speech to Congress is becoming even more partisan, much to the apparent chagrin of the Israelis.

Pressure is building on the Administration to send military aid to Ukraine, but it would be a very bad idea.

Two potential candidates for the Republican nomination in 2016 traded barbs this week over the President’s new policy toward Cuba.

Mike Huckabee seems to be making the moves necessary to run for President again, For reasons only he can understand.

The U.S. embargo of Cuba, and our lack of diplomatic recognition of the government in Havana, is an outdated relic of the Cold War. It’s time to end it.

It has nothing to do with winning, but it does have a lot to do with the foreign policy debate inside the Republican Party.

In the current situation, speaking out forcefully as some are demanding can only do more harm than good.

The war against ISIS continues to silently escalate, with little input from the people’s representatives in Congress.

Dispelling a rising myth,

Iraq’s problems cannot be fixed by the United States.

Despite a high profile effort to oust him, the most prominent libertarian Republican in Congress survived his primary challenge yesterday.

A new poll shows that Americans are divided over Israel’s actions in Gaza, but this most likely will not impact relations between the two countries.

Relying on the policies of a man who was President in a very different time is not a substitute for a rational foreign policy.

The President’s second speech to the Corps of Cadets is a vast improvement over the first.

Once again, President Obama’s attempt to communicate a foreign policy vision falls short.

Hubris.

Congressman Walter Jones beat back a primary challenge from a former Bush aide who attacked him over his foreign policy views.

Nearly six months later, it’s hard to find any good in the July military coup in Egypt.

The opponents of the temporary deal reached in Geneva have been making some ridiculous historical analogies.

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

Much like the Tea Party, David Frum wants to make the GOP tent smaller.

Opposing interventionism and unnecessary and unwise military engagements is not isolationism.

Heading into an intense week of Congressional lobbying, the odds still seem against the Administration on Syria.

Bombing Country B to “send a message” to Country A is not a valid argument for bombing Country B.

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