Outside the Beltway

The wave of Ramadan attacks continues, including a strike near the second holiest site in Islam.

A third major terrorist attack inside of a week.

A massive attack hits Istanbul’s airport.

Turkey has issued a formal apology to Russia over the November 2015 downing of a Russian jet that had briefly strayed into Turkish airspace.

Donald Trump responded to the attack on the Pulse nightclub by renewing his call to ban members of an entire religion from coming to the United States.

An EgyptAir jetliner with 66 on board disappeared from radar just before beginning its decent into Cairo.

A treasure trove of documents from a law firm in Panama could prove problematic for a large group of international leaders.

Given the stakes headed into the latest version of ‘Super Tuesday,’ last night’s Republican debate was surprisingly subdued.

Another hopeful step forward, thanks to diplomacy.

Ten American sailors detained by Iranian forces late Tuesday were released early today, something that seems to clearly demonstrate the value of diplomacy.

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

Some analysts are already suggesting that Russia’s two month old intervention in Syria is becoming a quagmire. That seems to be a premature judgment, but it’s not accomplishing much more than anything the West is doing.

The Director of the F.B.i. told Congress today that the San Bernardino shooters were apparently radicalized much earlier than previously believed.

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.

The probability that the shootings in San Bernardino were at least inspired by ISIS and/or other Jihadist terror networks is increasing.

Yesterday, the British Parliament debated the expansion of that nation’s military strikes against ISIS. For more than a year, our cowardly Congress has failed to even hold one debate or vote on America’s role in that conflict.

The suspects in the San Bernardino shootings are dead, but that’s about all we know so far this morning.

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.

The United States and Europe are giving everything the perpetrators of the Paris attacks hoped for.

Republicans insist that uttering the words “Radical Islamic Terrorism” is somehow important in the fight against ISIS and other terror networks, but it is entirely unclear what doing so would accomplish.

The news that at least some of the men who were involved in the terrorist attacks in Paris were among the refugees who have arrived in Europe since the summer is likely to complicate an already complicated situation.

America’s much touted international coalition against ISIS is, essentially a Coalition In Name Only.

President Obama came to office inheriting the legacy of one unnecessary war, and another that had faded from memory. He will leave office with Iraq and Syria in crisis, Europe uneasy, Yemen and Libya unstable breeding grounds for terrorism, and China doing whatever it is they’re doing.

In the wake of failure that could have been easily foreseen, the Obama Administration is ending a program to train so-called “moderate” Syrian rebels.

With Russia now launching its own airstrikes in Syria, it’s become obvious that U.S. policy in the Syrian Civil War is irrational and contradictory. And Russia’s policy isn’t any better.

There are mutual embassies in Havana and Washington for the first time in 54 years. It certainly took long enough.

For the first time since 1961, there will soon be an American Embassy in Havana, and a Cuban Embassy in Washington. It’s well past time that this happened.

The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia has seen better days.

Seymour Hersh is out with a conspiracy theory about the death of Osama bin Laden that just doesn’t make sense.

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

Marco Rubio is often described as one of the GOP’s leaders on foreign policy, but a close look reveals a decided lack of substance.

New allegations regarding foreign government donations to the Clinton Foundation seem likely to become a campaign issue.

The Iranian nuclear accords are barely 24 hours old and some people have already made up their mind about them.

More than ever before, even mild criticism of Israel seems to be verboten among Republicans.

Senate Republicans have done more harm to the goal of stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons than they have done good.

Do the nonprofit’s foreign donors create a conflict of interest?

The Atlantic has a fascinating cover story by Graeme Wood titled “What ISIS Really Wants.”

ISIS apparently now has a foothold in Libya, and is making inroads in Yemen.

A big change in an important nation in the most volatile part of the world.

The price of oil is continuing to fall, but it won’t last forever.

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

With major theater chains having pulled out, Sony bowed to the inevitable, but now there appears to be proof that a foreign power is behind the Sony hacking attacks and threats of violence.

The resumption of diplomatic relations between U.S. and Cuba, and expansion of some commercial trade ties, is historic but it’s only the first step toward the goal of ending an outdated embargo.

For a year that started out with regaining long-lost territory in Ukraine, 2014 is not ending so well for Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

The Justice Department won’t force James Risen to testify in a legal investigation, but faces a new choice in a different case.

The latest ISIS video is horrible and barbaric but we should not take the bait they are offering before considering the consequences of our actions going forward.