Outside the Beltway

Top White House staffers were preparing to fire several troublesome figures at once when the President suddenly upended the plan.

Uh oh.

The Trump presidency is the latest step in treating commentators like policy experts. It is all a manifestation of how the modern GOP is a populist party.

H.R. McMaster appears to be on the way out as National Security Adviser. The important question is, who replaces him?

The President tried bringing something akin to a traditional policy process to the White House. Now he’s rebelling against it.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham says war against North Korea would be worth it. Ignoring the fact that it would result in casualties unlike anything America has seen since the Vietnam War.

John Bolton is leading a cry for preemptive war against North Korea.

National Security Adviser H.L. McMaster is the latest person rumored to be considering moving on from the Trump Administration.

When it comes to foreign policy, Donald Trump has no over-arching philosophy and little knowledge, so don’t expect anything approaching a coherent doctrine from his Administration.

Donald Trump’s Secretary of State is refusing to defend his response to the violence in Charlottesville.

Trump’s populism, personalism, and irresponsibility are on display.

A controversial member of George W. Bush’s foreign policy team is up for a post in Donald Trump’s State Department.

The head of the biggest energy company in the world is reportedly Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of State.

I’m in the New York Times’ “Room for Debate” with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Duke’s Peter Feaver.

Mitt Romney and Donald Trump became bitter rivals for the soul of the GOP in 2016, but Romney appears to be at the top of Trump’s list for the nation’s top diplomat.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is speaking out against several of President-Elect Trump’s proposed Cabinet nominees.

Team of Rivals?

A surprising name is emerging as the likely pick for the nation’s top diplomatic position.

Much more so than in the past, the race for the Republican Presidential race has become a battle to define what it means to be a ‘conservative.’ Especially on issues like immigration and national security, one side seems to be winning the battle.

Republicans haven’t really moved beyond the legacy of George W. Bush’s failed Administration as much as they’d like to think, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting them very much.

Was this simply ordinary intelligence collection? Or something more insidious?

Rand Paul is out with one of his more forceful attacks on Republican hawks to date.

Rand Paul is the latest Republican to enter the race, but his path to even becoming a contender is a difficult one at best.

Rand Paul is one of the few Republicans who seems to be evaluating the new policy toward Cuba through something other than an outdated Cold War perspective.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul continues to challenge Republican orthodoxy on foreign policy, and that’s a good thing.

It’s beginning to look like the 2016 race for the Republican nomination will have its own collection of oddballs.

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

The Supreme Court rules that Recess Appointments can only be made when there’s actually a Congressional recess.

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.

Calling anyone a front-runner in a race where we’re still two years away from anyone casting votes is silly. Nonetheless, Rand Paul is an interesting guy to watch for those wondering if the GOP has actually changed.

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

Conservatives are doing what the criticized JournoList for doing—even though JournoList didn’t.

There seem to be some signs that defense hawks in the GOP are concerned about Rand Paul’s growing popularity in the party.

Rand Paul’s filibuster has made him a darling among conservatives but it may not last.

Without question, Barack Obama won the foreign policy debate in the 2012 campaign.

Mitt Romney’s speech at VMI today was billed as a major foreign policy address, but it was incredibly light on substance.

Iran’s currency has collapsed and there are riot police in the streets of Teheran. It appears the sanctions may just be working after all.

My latest for The Atlantic, “What Would Romney’s Foreign Policy Look Like?” has posted.

Senator Rand Paul suggests the GOP may want to reconsider its foreign policy aggressiveness.

General Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sent a message to Israel last week.

Left with a choice between their hawkish foreign policy and their supposed commitment to fiscal conservatives, Republicans will, without fail, spend the nation into debt.

The presumptive Republican nominee has sent a strong and welcome signal about his governing philosophy.

The Oompa Loompah Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

Is there a Romney Doctrine?

Ruthlessly avoiding fights that aren’t worth the risk is shrewd leadership. But Romney still needs to show he can fight and win.