Outside the Beltway

After 3,193 days and more than 4,000 lives, the American war in Iraq is officially at an end.

Time Magazine has chosen “The Protester” as its Person Of The Year. Let the outrage ensue.

Yesterday’s encounter between Jon Huntsman and Newt Gingrich was less than it could have been.

A list of international contingencies to worry about in the coming year. Handy as a stocking stuffer!

We’re hearing the howls of a wounded bear.

Huntsman will gain little if any traction and none of the frontrunners really helped or hurt themselves.

The Secretary of Defense has some words of warning for those advocating military action against Iran.

An attack against Iran’s nuclear weapons research facility won’t be an easy thing.

It’s time for another round of speculation about Iran and its nuclear program.

Herman Cain’s promise to rely on “experts” should raise eyebrows everywhere.

Do we place too much importance on performance in presidential debates?

Herman Cain’s foreign policy consists of little more than deliberate ignorance.

My latest for The Atlantic, “The Thorniest Question: When Can a President Order an American Killed?” has been posted.

Are we placing far too much importance on how someone does in a two hour so-called “debate”?

Last night’s Republican debate is likely to raise more questions about Rick Perry in the minds of voters.

Measuring our progress a decade after the 9/11 attacks

Former Oregon governor and long-time US Senator Mark Hatfield has died.

The Air Force has suspended a course that teaches nuclear officers that Christian ethics permit them to do their job.

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

To paraphrase Rumsfeld: you go to the ballot box with the candidate you have, not the candidate you want, or would like to have.

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.

I’ve begun to wonder about the future of U. S. security policy. This isn’t a serious analytical post; it’s just what I call “musing”—committing disorganized thoughts to writing.

Pakistan is trying to explain how the world’s most wanted man was able to hide in plain sight for six years, and failing badly.

There are many opportunities to go to war. Here’s a guide for choosing between them.

Warren Christopher, Bill Clinton’s first Secretary of State, has died at 85.

The Toomer’s Corner trees were poisoned by a rabid Alabama fan.

Time for midterms.

The Stuxnet virus that has set back the Iranian nuclear weapons program by several years at least appears to have originated as a joint project between the United States and Israel.

Should we limit the number of rounds guns can hold in order to minimize shooting sprees?

Now that the US has ratified New Start, it’s Russia’s turn.

Sarah Palin waded into the foreign policy pool today with a piece about Iran, and it was about as empty as most of the other ideas on Iran that we’ve heard over the last six years or so from everyone else.

Unless you paid close attention, you probably missed most of the coverage of the war in Afghanistan in 2010.

The 20th Amendment was supposed to eliminate lame duck sessions, but it didn’t.

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

The latest wrong of documents from Wikileaks show that American diplomats are as worried about Pakistan as the rest of us, and not quite sure how to deal with the situation.

A crippling, and technologically advanced, computer virus and attacks against Iranian nuclear scientists lead to only one conclusion; someone is doing everything they can short of military action to make sure Iran doesn’t develop nuclear weapons.

The diplomatic ramifications of the latest Wikileaks leaks are just starting to emerge and may place some countries in very embarrassing positions.

A new round of Wikileaks documents is out, and it opens the door on diplomatic correspondence previously hidden from the public.

What sort of response is required to Pyongyang’s ratcheting up of tensions on the Korean Peninsula?