Every civilization that has ever existed has ultimately collapsed. History is a tale of efforts that failed, or aspirations that weren’t realized. So, as a historian, one has to live with a sense of the inevitability of tragedy.
NAFTA is a major stepping stone to the New World Order.
The defining issue is that the government in Taiwan was considered to be the government of all of China, and the authorities in Beijing were not recognized as a government of China. So Taiwan was the residuary for all of China.
In his essay, ‘Perpetual Peace,’ the philosopher, Immanuel Kant, argued that perpetual peace would eventually come to the world in one of two ways, by human insight or by conflicts and catastrophes of a magnitude that left humanity no other choice. We are at such a juncture.
Withdrawal of US troops will become like salted peanuts to the American public: The more US troops come home, the more will be demanded.
Why should we flagellate ourselves for what the Cambodians did to each other?
An Iranian moderate is one who has run out of ammunition.
Administration has managed the extraordinary feat of having, at one and the same time, the worst relations with our allies, the worst relations with our adversaries, and the most serious upheavals in the developing world since the end of the Second World War.
To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.
I wouldn’t say it’s a split. It’s a difference of emphasis. It does exist between, I would say, the State Department and the Defense Department.
University politics make me long for the simplicity of the Middle East.
Left to its own devices, the State Department machinery tends toward inertia rather than creativity; it is always on the verge of turning itself into an enormous cable machine.
The key decision for a statesman is whether to commit his nation or not. There is no middle course. Once a great nation commits itself, it must prevail. It will acquire no kudos for translating its inner doubts into hesitation.
We have three things in common: Irish wives, the ability to speak for 17 minutes without a verb, and the fact that we both speak with an accent.
One thing I don’t want around me is a military intellectual. I don’t have to worry about you on that score.
For the Soul of France is masterful history, brilliantly researched, and hard to put down.
The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.
The convictions that leaders have formed before reaching high office are the intellectual capital they will consume as long as they continue in office.
Every American president, regardless of party, has said that America has an intense interest in a peaceful resolution. And I think it should be left at that.
Far too often, the Ukrainian issue is posed as a showdown: whether Ukraine joins the East or the West. But if Ukraine is to survive and thrive, it must not be either side’s outpost against the other – it should function as a bridge between them.