Outside the Beltway

Middle East peace talks are apparently in such bad shape that the U.S. is thinking of releasing Jonathan Pollard as an incentive to Israel.

After eight years in a coma, Ariel Sharon has passed away.

While I concur with the “intent, justice, legality, and morality” of the decision, I nonetheless oppose it.

Signs of some progress in the talks over Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

Was Arafat poisoned? A new report raises some questions, but answers none of them conclusively.

Secretary of State Kerry becomes the latest American official to wade into the Middle East’s longest lasting quagmire.

Syria’s violence is slipping across it’s borders.That’s not good news at all.

Signs and portents in the Middle East.

There seems to be an effort underway to reassess the legacy of our 43rd President.

Killing their leaders doesn’t seem to be impacting the ability of jihadi groups to recruit and motivate more terrorists.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas appears to be heading in one unfortunate direction.

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

With Mitt Romney and Barack Obama basically saying the same things about foreign policy, it’s time to take a look at an alternative.

For the fourth day, American and other embassies became the focus of mass protests in many Muslim nations.

Romney’s foreign tour didn’t go quite as well as planned, but it’s unclear how much the minor gaffes will actually matter.

The US government has an odd and unproductive view on the concept of talks.

A nine month Al Jazeera investigations indicates that poison may have played a role in Yasser Arafat’s 2004 death.

The Secretary of State is ignoring a hold by the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman.

Mitt Romney’s view of the ideal relationship between the United States and Israel is, at the very least. quite odd, and, potentially, dangerous.

The truth about a Second Obama Term is that it likely wouldn’t be all that remarkable.

The problem with Europe may not be the Euro, but the fact that there really aren’t any Europeans.

Rick Santorum’s foreign policy positions are troubling in many respects.

Rick Santorum has some bizarre views when it comes to the dispute between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Vehement disagreement with the policy views of a country and prejudice based on immutable traits are not the same.

Newt Gingrich’s comments about Palestinian nationhood came up during last night’s debate.

This time, it was Newt Gingrich who walked away unscathed from a Republican Presidential debate.

Once again, Newt Gingrich speaks without thinking.

We may have entered a new and dangerous phase of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

President Obama explained his position on the Palestinian statehood resolution today, but one wonders if anyone listened.

Rick Perry’s speech criticizing the President’s policies in the Middle East raised more questions than it answered.

Foolishly, the Palestinians are going forward with their effort to get Palestinian statehood recognized by the United Nations.

Is the NYPD becoming too much like the CIA?

A bomb blast in Oslo’s government center has killed at least two people and a presumably related shooting spree at a nearby children’s camp are being investigated as terrorist related.

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

The United States is pressuring the Netanyahu government to move off its hard line.

I get the impression that a lot of people don’t even know what “the 1967 borders” are or why they tend to be considered the logical point of departure for any type of peace negotiations.

When will the madness end?

President Obama doubled down in his speech before this year’s AIPAC conference. Why he did so only he understands.

Once again, an American President thinks he can bring peace to the Middle East.