America is stronger than any state probably since the Roman Empire. But we can't do what used to be done with that kind of strength.

I think that America is a part of the world, that we want to cooperate with the world. We are not the dominant power in the world, that everyone falls in behind us. But we want to reach out and cooperate.

America wants to work with friends, with allies, with people of good will, to make this a better world.

I don't think the Chinese look out at the world and want to overturn the system.

I think above all, what we need with Iran is patience.

Much of what we know about mathematics and trade comes from the Arabs. Then came stagnation, and now they're the West's whipping boy. This is a problem that cannot be solved overnight, and certainly not militarily.

If Iraq were to descend into chaos, the Europeans would feel the effects just as much as we would.