Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz are at a more than 20-year high after Iranian authorities threatened to close the 34-mile-wide channel through which more than one-third of the world's oil tanker traffic passes.

The Obama administration knows full well what the state of the military is. However, because it would rather shift the country’s spending priorities to domestic programs long favored by Democrats, it has willingly accepted, indeed gone beyond, what the 2011 Budget Control Act required in cuts to national security programs.

There has been a growing understanding in the US government in recent years about Pakistan's destabilizing role in Afghanistan and its support for terrorist groups, but Washington has failed to force Pakistan to change its policy.

How could our "ally" aid our most vicious enemy? Pakistanis have offered many answers, with varying degrees of believability. The question facing Washington now is what to do with this wayward partner. At stake are three fundamental U.S. interests.

To succeed in Asia Washington must keep up healthy alliances, maintain a favorable military balance of power, and encourage free trade and economic liberalization.

The North Korean challenge is complex, but by now all too familiar. Nearly two decades of negotiations have failed to resolve the nuclear problem, and North Korea has been carrying out aggression against the South for much longer than that. It is time for the allies to try something new.

Americans can never be entirely safe from the violent acts of evil regimes and individuals. Sept. 11, 2001, ended our holiday from history and looking ahead it does not seem likely to appear on our calendars for many years to come.

The sooner Gadhafi goes, the greater the impact will be. Gadhafi's fall would provide inspiration for the opposition in Syria and perhaps even Iran, whereas his survival would embolden the regimes in power there to cling on.