Some intemperate statements to a journalist may reveal just how the Obama administration is approaching the thorny problems of Iran and Iraq. This is the third part of a longer essay, with part 1 here and part 2 here.

In the run-up to Geneva II, all of the Administration’s policy failings are coalescing into a truly weird and tragic spectacle. Part of a longer essay. Read Part 1 here.

Self-proclaimed Middle East “experts” have long bemoaned the instability of the region. They didn’t know the first thing about real instability.

China’s Arabic-language television and radio outreach efforts don’t compare to America’s in traditional measures like audience size. But sometimes how many people are tuning in isn’t as important as who is tuning in.

Ukraine’s Victor Yanukovich is stuck between a rock and a hard place. How he responds to the latest violence could fatally deepen rifts in an already divided country.

American democracy suffers when we place the responsibility for defense on an increasingly narrow segment of the population. We need a more republican country, and a more democratic military.

Viewing religion in an unbroken continuum with every variant of magic is a perspective grounded in a widely diffused class of people—part of the culture of an international intelligentsia.

After the Volcker Rule was passed in December, there was much misplaced rejoicing. The real issues behind the successful regulation of banks are only now being debated.

Why the world’s poorest nation is embracing Chinese investment over Western aid.

Oscar Niemeyer’s architectural vision needed the support of authoritarian governments.