With Europe collapsing, China stumbling, and India and Brazil retreating from full free market reform, we’re the last stable, pro-growth economy left.  

February and March were bad months for the Western presence in Afghanistan. First the accidental burning of the Quran and then a lone soldier’s massacre of Afghan civilians undercut U.S. efforts to win Afghan hearts and minds.

President Obama is reportedly considering releasing several senior Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay as an enticement to get the Taliban to the peace table. If he does so, he will do tremendous harm to American national security — and to his prospects for reelection this fall.

The Obama administration's willingness to jettison hard fought gains in Iraq, and abandon opportunities to project power toward Iran and the Gulf can only be viewed as another step toward relinquishing U.S. global leadership.

In Egypt's revolution, Mubarak's downfall marks not the beginning of the end, but rather the end of the beginning. Decisions made now will reverberate for decades. Speaking on an Arabic satellite channel just days after Mubarak's ouster, Secretary of State Clinton called for "a democratic transition with free and fair elections" while also acknowledging "the end of the road is what matters."

Israel’s test on Wednesday of a new missile able to reach Iran, and the International Atomic Energy Agency’s forthcoming report that exposes the military dimension to Iran’s nuclear program have renewed speculation that Israel’s patience with Obama’s diplomatic efforts to counter Iran’s nuclear program has run out.

The U.S. Navy names its ships and submarines after presidents and states of the union, admirals and senators, even species of fish and mountain ranges. But every once in a while a ship, usually a destroyer, is named after ordinary persons or people for displaying extraordinary courage and sacrifice. One such ship was named this weekend, the USS Michael P Murphy.

Although the 9/11 Commission report has recommendations about how to defend America at home, its discussion of strategyreveals that the theater of operations is the greater Middle East.