The Christian Science Monitor

That's an acknowledgement that, despite myriad setbacks for the spill relief effort, Obama is not in dire straits, says Peter Beinart, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation ...

“I imagine they [US officials] are reading the Israelis the riot act just now,” says Daniel Levy, co-director of the Middle East Task Force at the New America Foundation in Washington. If the situation does not deteriorate further, the impact on a specific US goal such as restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks may not be devastating, he says....

Steven Clemons, who directs the American strategy program at the New America Foundation in Washington, says Obama's West Point speech suggests that the new document will recognize “the vital need for the US to return to its role as a benign, constructive force in global affairs.” ...

“This step by the White House puts more responsibility on the president to say, 'I will take wasteful dollars out of the budget.' It can build trust,” says Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

“The challenges we face now are so great that it’s going to have to be done in a series of steps. Before you can turn to Social Security and taxes, you have to hit these trustbusters, like earmarks,” she adds. “Every normal taxpayer says, ‘Why should I be part of the solution when Washington is still broken?’ ”

Show of hands, please: Do you think you can do a better job with the federal budget than our leaders in Washington?

OK everyone, put your hands down. And put that confidence to the test by clicking over to the new Stabilize the Debt exercise from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. ...

“There is less to Iran’s agreement than meets the eye,” writes Jeffrey Lewis, director of the Nuclear Strategy & Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation, on his blog ArmsControlWonk.com. ...

Mexico City — Mexico’s drug war continues to get worse and shows no sign of ebbing.

During that span, on March 13, three US citizens were murdered in Ciudad Juárez. Two of them were American consular officers and the third was a prison guard from across the border in El Paso, Texas.

There is no evidence that we are 'controlling' illegal immigration better than in the past,” says Tomás Jiménez, assistant professor of sociology at ...