The U.S. and Iowa state flags fly at a rally for Mitt Romney in West Des Moines on December 30, 2011. (Brian Snyder/courtesy Reuters) Above the Fold. As the Roy Schneider character says at the start…

Over the past decade a new conventional wisdom has emerged that security and development are mutually reinforcing, and that long-term security is not possible without reducing poverty and promoting e…

President Barack Obama speaks to soldiers from the tenth Mountain Division during his visit to Fort Drum in New York on June 23, 2011. Above the Fold. The reactions this week by proponents of the Af…

A pigeon sits on a clock in Frankfurt. (Alex Domanski/courtesy Reuters) Above the Fold. The super committee now has a bit more than a month to strike a long-term deficit reduction deal. I’m skeptica…

Steven Erlanger, “An Unexpected Mission for France’s Defense Minister,” New York Times, February 19, 2013. One of the most shocking lessons for him from Mali, Mr. Le Drian said, was the lack of Fren…