Editorial Note: This is the text of a speech given at the Casey Research Summit, 2014, "Thriving in a Crisis Economy." Part I appears here today: Part II will be published here on Wednesday. I’ve been a libertarian since I was a teenager, and so I’m quite...

Last week, the House and Senate voted to rubber stamp President Obama’s war plans for the Middle East. Both bodies, on a bipartisan basis, authorized the US to begin openly training and arming the rebels who have been fighting for three years to overthrow the...

At least 175 people were killed across Iraq, and 102 more were wounded. Baghdad suffered a series of bombings again, but an army base in Anbar province is where most of the action is probably occurring today. Also, the Islamic State militants are causing tremendous upheaval across the border in a Kurdish area of Syria.

Except for eight wounded security personnel, all of today’s casualties were among militant forces. At least 154 of them were killed and dozens more were wounded. More important news came from Turkey were dozens of hostages safely returned home.

As the Obama administration is busy forming a coalition to fight-eradicate the Islamic State (IS) or (ISIS/ISIL), the evolving coalition that gathered last week in Paris was a far cry from the one put together by George H. W. Bush in 1991 to fight and expel Saddam...

As the wobbly anti-ISIS coalition is being formed with American prodding, the Obama administration should take a strategic look at the future of the Arab world beyond the threat posed by the self-declared Islamic State. Otherwise, the United States would be unprepared...

A few months ago, not many Americans, in fact Europeans as well, knew that a Yazidi sect in fact existed in northwest Iraq. Even in the Middle East itself, the Yazidis and their way of life have been an enigma, shrouded by mystery and mostly grasped through...

At least 71 people were killed and 86 more were wounded across Iraq. More than half of the fatalities were civilians. Baghdad suffered a bombing spree for the second day in a row.

The President pledges "no combat troops" in Iraq. The head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, says he may recommend combat ground troops in the battle against ISIS. The President, in a speech, reiterates "no ground troops," and...

"Congress must now vote to support the first steps of what will be a long march toward victory," said Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Following this clarion call, 71 House Republicans bolted to join 85 Democrats in voting no to U.S. funds to train and arm Syrian...