Gary Schmitt's riff on America's victory over Spain is rightfully getting ripped. What I want to add though is how weird it is that the neocons -- the people who are all about invading foreign lands -- would adopt such an isolationist view, especially at a time...

In response to the news from the streets of Tehran, American conservatives took to the airwaves, calling for aggressive and direct American support for the demonstrators. Americans are justifiably sympathetic to the Iranian demonstrators but an over the top response from the Obama administration, would only make the situation worse,...

This has been tossed around on the internets today and I think it is very much an open question. There was a wide expectation that Hezbollah was going to win the parliamentary elections, instead the more pro-western March 14th movement was victorious. The AP framed the elections as...

Since coming to office Gates has discussed the need for the military to move in a dramatic new direction, but action had been limited - until now. The budget laid out by Gates gives a clear indication that the Obama administration is serious about finally shedding the legacy of the...

I have to take issue with the now clichéd line that Afghanistan is harder than Iraq. It is hard - very hard - but saying it is "harder" is Monday morning quarterbacking with rose-colored glasses. As Iraq descended into chaos in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, there was...

In what is sure to make all oped writers blush with envy, Obama today had an oped on the global economy published in 30 papers around the world. I believe that maybe the first...

One of the real benefits of last year's election was that it dispelled the myth that McCain was a reasonable foreign policy centrist and exposed the fact that he was actually a reckless neocon. For instance,...

The special relationship is losing its luster and it relevance. Contrary, to the UK press, this has little to do with the personal relationship between Obama and Brown or his electoral troubles, but is a byproduct of Iraq and the UK's...

Things are getting bad in Europe, real bad, and the costs of European dithering are increasing. There has been plenty of excellent commentary about the crisis in Europe and the need for European political leaders to step up. (See Matt, Adam, and NSN's piece today). But to...

While some are questioning the appointment of George Mitchell as a special envoy to the Middle East on the grounds that he will be too objective and balanced, but if peace is your objective then Obama could not have picked a better person. His...

The appointment of Secretary Gates is sure to irk many progressives - and for good reason. Gates was a part of the Bush administration, he oversaw the implementation of the President's "surge" strategy, and has supported missile defense. While many progressives acknowledge that Gates has said some reasonable things (on...

Trying to argue against statements from the McCain campaign is like entering a circular-logic firing squad. Since on any given issue, they aggressively adopt both sides of the argument and position themselves where it is most expedient (ex. immigration, strikes inside of sovereign countries, talking to adversaries, the

It has definitely been the week for foreign policy endorsements. Colin Powell dramatically endorsed Barack Obama on Sunday, and now today we learn that Al Qaeda has endorsed John McCain. The Washington Post and AP reported today that Al-Qaeda affiliated websites have endorsed Senator McCain, saying that he will...

There is no doubt that the next President of the United States will be tested by an international crisis, as Sen. Joe Biden said this weekend. In times of crisis it is essential that a leader have the temperament and judgment to guide America with a steady hand. Obama's temeperament...

The condemnation of John McCain by John Lewis -- a man McCain called one of the three wise men he would consult as president -- was a huge personal blow to McCain. But Powell's endorsement of Obama is even more of a slap in the face.

Powell is...

It is interesting that John McCain would bring up the judgment of knowing when to go into another country. The fact is that McCain was for invading Iraq and five other countries over the past eight years.

When it comes to making the judgment whether to use military force...

McCain said we will not have another Cold War with Russia. But just said Ukraine was "in Russia's sights" and repeated his oft-repeated line that when he sees Putin he sees the letters "K.G.B." This is a good line if you are pundit, not if you are a president and...

Would you trust Sarah Palin enough to send her to Moscow and Beijing to represent the US? Gaining that trust, is Palin's test tonight. 

It should go without saying that a VP should be qualified to be President, since 20 percent of vice presidents have been forced to suddenly...

Did McCain just change his position on Iran?

John McCain and Barack Obama got into an argument tonight over Henry Kissinger's position on  Iran. During the debate McCain said Obama's position was not the same as Kissinger's. McCain said that Kissinger "said that there could be secretary-level and lower...

In response to the Russia crisis McCain was seen widely as reckless in his condemnation of Russia. Kissinger said last week that "We have to face the fact that the first shot in Georgia was fired on the Georgian side." The funny thing in McCain's Russia answer is that...