U.S. Congress

War by PowerPoint

Is the White House using the Pentagon to fight the GOP?

BY GORDON ADAMS | FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Tough Witness

John Brennan delivers a smart, but vague, performance.

BY AMY ZEGART | FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Why Is the United States Subsidizing Iran?

It's a veritable international mystery: How did Washington end up funding its adversaries in Tehran?

BY FREDERICK STARR | FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Think Again: Immigration

After Republicans' election-year drubbing, the United States has an historic opportunity to fix its broken immigration system. And the arguments against reform simply don't hold up anymore.

BY SHANNON O’NEIL | JANUARY 29, 2013

Lawsuit: Kabul Embassy Guards Told To Lie About Long Hours

The saga of U.S. diplomatic security in Afghanistan continues.

BY ADAM ZAGORIN, DAVID HILZENRATH | JANUARY 23, 2013

Pop Goes the Nominee

Vetting by trial balloon is no way to run a White House.

BY JOHN NORRIS | JANUARY 16, 2013

Subsidizing Starvation

How American tax dollars are keeping Arkansas rice growers fat on the farm and starving millions of Haitians.

BY MAURA R. O’CONNOR | JANUARY 11, 2013

Back to the Future

Missile defense doesn't work, so of course Congress is doubling it.

BY JEFFREY LEWIS | JANUARY 9, 2013

Under Cover

Why are we giving visas to Chinese spies?

BY DANA ROHRABACHER | JANUARY 8, 2013

Welcome, Know-Nothings

The new Congress is a bunch of ignoramuses when it comes to foreign policy. And, frankly, that's probably a good thing right now.

BY JAMES TRAUB | JANUARY 4, 2013

The Fiscal Cliff Sequel

Why the Pentagon will only make a cameo appearance.

BY GORDON ADAMS | JANUARY 2, 2013

The Art of Snore

Can't we get some better defense ideas for $1.75 billion a day?

BY JOHN ARQUILLA | JANUARY 2, 2013

Does the GOP Need a New Foreign Policy?

Can the Republican Party survive without coming to terms with the Bush-Cheney years? FP's Shadow Government team weighs in.

JANUARY 2, 2013

Is This Any Way to Treat Your Banker?

China recoils in horror at America's fiscal dysfunction.

BY SHEN DINGLI | JANUARY 2, 2013

Getting Down to Business

The bad news is Washington hasn't seen the last of its bickering, dithering, and gridlock. The good news is Obama can change that in his first 100 days. 

BY MOHAMED A. EL-ERIAN | JANUARY 2, 2013

The Things They Carried: The Third Amiga

What rising GOP star Kelly Ayotte takes with her to the Senate.

INTERVIEW BY BENJAMIN PAUKER | JANUARY 2, 2013

Currency War

Debating Robert Zoellick's vision for reintegrating economics into U.S. foreign policy. 

JANUARY 2, 2013

The Year in Quotes

The 20 most puzzling, hypocritical, and revealing things said about U.S. foreign policy in 2012.

BY MICAH ZENKO | DECEMBER 28, 2012

Chicken Run

The politicians are playing a dangerous game with the global economy -- and with Americans' pocketbooks. But the voters get the last move.

BY DANIEL ALTMAN | DECEMBER 28, 2012

Wanted: A Few Good Leaders

Fewer veterans are serving in high office in the United States. It's no coincidence that America is going off the rails.

BY PAUL V. KANE | DECEMBER 27, 2012

New Year, Same Awful Congress

Will lawmakers trade political paralysis for compromise and bipartisanship in 2013? Don't bet on it.

BY NORMAN ORNSTEIN | DECEMBER 26, 2012

Running Hills

Why senators shouldn't head the Pentagon or Foggy Bottom.

BY GORDON ADAMS | DECEMBER 20, 2012

Fiscal Cliff: A Short History

How did the phrase become shorthand for Washington's embrace of budget brinkmanship?

BY URI FRIEDMAN | DECEMBER 18, 2012

Hagel Unchained

Why do neocon Republicans hate Chuck Hagel so much? Because of what he would do as secretary of defense.

BY JACOB HEILBRUNN | DECEMBER 14, 2012

DeMinted

The Heritage Foundation got exactly the conspiracy-hyping president it deserves.

BY HAYES BROWN | DECEMBER 7, 2012

Offensive Maneuver

Why does Leon Panetta hate democracy?

BY MICAH ZENKO | NOVEMBER 27, 2012

It's His Prerogative

Let Obama pick his secretary of state. Even if it's Susan Rice. 

BY DAVID ROTHKOPF | NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Pork Will Find a Way

How Congress can fund its pet projects -- even without earmarks.

BY LAURA PETERSON | NOVEMBER 26, 2012

Yes, Congress Is That Bad

America's unprecedented political paralysis is undermining the country at home and abroad.

BY THOMAS MANN, NORMAN ORNSTEIN | DECEMBER 2012

Is Bashar al-Assad Syria’s Abraham Lincoln?

The Syrian president's fans are comparing him with the hero of America's Civil War. Here's why they're wrong.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | NOVEMBER 14, 2012