Be careful about a policy generated with enthusiasm in the rush of a moment. It usually doesn't turn out well.

I think the West is in a low point we haven`t seen since the 1930s.

Don't mistake the Russia you want to exist for the Russia that there actually is. Be realistic.

The European Union, ok, right, it has a bureaucracy, right. It`s sometimes difficult to deal with but so what? You hire a couple of people like me to work the European Union, and it can be done. It`s pretty good.

Lincoln is quoted more often than he's understood, and he understood that the founding principle of our nation is, in fact, the Declaration of Independence.

George W. Bush tried working with the Russians after 9/11; Obama had the reset. Both presidents achieved less than they wanted, but they both achieved something. Those policies made sense, and it's to the credit of both Presidents Bush and Obama that even as they reached out to Russia, they did not sacrifice core American interests, or core American values. We didn't give the Russians on the altar of better relations other countries. We were able to do two things at once.

Internal reform in Russia would require a better relationship with the West.