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The Bullpen

Dana Liebelson

The problem with outsourcing the military

Edward Morrissey

Obama's boneheaded health-care fight with Catholics

Daniel Larison

The brewing proxy war in Syria

Robert Shrum

Nominating Mitt Malaprop

Paul Brandus

Obama's 5 biggest mistakes

During an interview with Barbara Walters, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad took a defiant stance against allegations that he ordered a bloody crackdown on protesters.

Bashar al-Assad's 'pathetic' Barbara Walters interview: 4 takeaways

December 8, 2011, at 12:26 PM

In a rare interview, the isolated Syrian leader denies a lot — and convinces almost no one

13 Comments

Queen Elizabeth II may have to cut back on her baubles and championship horses now that her income has been diminished to 15 percent of the profits from the Crown Estate.

Queen Elizabeth's royal pay cut: By the numbers

December 7, 2011, at 4:23 PM

Even British monarchs are feeling the economy squeeze — though it didn't stop them from spending millions on this year's extravagant Royal Wedding

On Human Rights Day on Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the U.S. will tie the distribution of its $4 billion in foreign aid to countries' respect for gay rights.

Should the U.S. use foreign aid to promote gay rights?

December 7, 2011, at 2:38 PM

Hillary Clinton declares that "gay rights are human rights," and vows that the administration will penalize countries that abuse citizens over sexual orientation

16 Comments

Police detain an activist during a rally Tuesday, as hundreds of Russian demonstrators protested the allegedly-fraudulent results of the country's parliamentary elections.

Is Russia on the verge of an 'Arab Spring'?

December 6, 2011, at 5:43 PM

Hundreds are arrested during massive demonstrations, as anti-Putin protesters charge that Sunday's parliamentary elections were fraudulent

Two cars on the side of a Japanese highway after more than a dozen luxury cars, including 8 Ferraris and 1 Lamborghini, crashed on Sunday.

The 'most expensive car crash in history': By the numbers

December 6, 2011, at 4:10 PM

The damage caused by a 14-car pileup of Ferraris and Lamborghinis could cost owners upwards of $1 million

5 Comments

Russian's aspiring president-for-life Vladimir Putin appears on an election billboard: Judging from his party's recent embarrassment at the ballot box, Putin's political strength may finally be waning.

Are Russians getting sick of Vladimir Putin?

December 5, 2011, at 2:27 PM

After the longtime leader's party suffers a surprise embarrassment at the polls, the strongman's grasp on power suddenly looks shakier

Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran: The already tense U.S.-Iran relationship was rattled this weekend, after a U.S. drone went missing near the Iranian border.

Iran downs a U.S. drone: Is 'all-out war' next?

December 5, 2011, at 10:24 AM

Tehran claims to have taken out a top-secret spy plane, potentially bringing a showdown over Iran's nuclear program closer

22 Comments

Egyptian election officials count ballots in Cairo this week: Religious parties are emerging as the victors in the country's first election since Hosni Mubarak was forced out of office.

Egypt's vote: A mandate for Islamists?

December 2, 2011, at 1:55 PM

Religious parties trounce the secular groups that helped spearhead the country's revolution. A triumph for democracy — or the beginning of a 'grand jihad'?

9 Comments

A Pakistani group sets fire to images of President Obama and Secretary Clinton Thursday in protest of the deadly NATO attack last weekend.

Should Obama apologize to Pakistan?

December 2, 2011, at 10:03 AM

The White House won't ask for Islamabad's forgiveness over the killing of Pakistani soldiers last weekend. Is that the right call?

9 Comments

Iranian President Ahmadinejad visits a nuclear enrichment facility in 2008: A massive explosion damaged one of the country's facilities this week, the second such explosion in November.

Why do Iran's nuclear and missile sites keep exploding?

December 1, 2011, at 1:05 PM

One of Iran's uranium enrichment facilities was reportedly rocked by a blast Monday, just two weeks after a missile base blew up. What's going on?

12 Comments

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is trying to woo Israeli expats to come home with an ad campaign that suggests there's something wrong with being Jewish in America, critics argue.

Does Israel have a problem with American Jews?

December 1, 2011, at 11:41 AM

Benjamin Netanyahu's government unveils an ad campaign urging expats to come home, and some Jews in the U.S. find the message insulting

17 Comments

Police chase protesters at the gate of the British embassy in Tehran: Hundreds of protesters stormed Britain's diplomatic compound on Tuesday, apparently to protest recent financial sanctions.

Iran's British embassy takeover: '1979 all over again'?

November 30, 2011, at 9:33 AM

In an eerie echo of a Carter-era international crisis, hardline Iranian "students" seized the British embassy on Tuesday

A Pakistani protester burns an image of President Obama on Tuesday: After a NATO attack killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers, Islamabad demanded that the U.S. quit using a shadowy drone base in Pakistan.

4 reasons the U.S.-Pakistan alliance will survive

November 29, 2011, at 11:54 AM

Islamabad is furious with Washington after NATO airstrikes kill two dozen Pakistani soldiers. Still, a diplomatic divorce may not be in the cards

11 Comments

The criminal case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn has already been dropped and a new investigative report suggests that the sexual-assault scandal was part of a plot to wreck DSK's career.

Was Dominique Strauss-Kahn framed?

November 28, 2011, at 3:11 PM

An exhaustive new report suggests that the disgraced former IMF boss was the victim of a setup designed to kill his political future

5 Comments

Supporters of the religious political party Jamaat-e-Islami protest after Pakistan buried 24 troops killed in a NATO air raid over the weekend.

NATO's deadly attack on Pakistan's soldiers: The fallout

November 28, 2011, at 11:37 AM

An aerial assault on Pakistani military outposts outrages our mercurial ally and sparks a diplomatic crisis. Can the U.S.-Pakistan friendship survive?

16 Comments