I think that President George W. Bush was ahead of most of his government, in realizing that Putin was not the person we thought he was.

Remember, the American grand strategy works when other countries feel secure. But it doesn't work if we acquiesce in the aggression of other countries.

We intend to leave it without further discussion. We respect this request by the government of Uzbekistan

Realism is important in foreign policy. You have to be realistic about what you can achieve, and about the pitfalls, and problems along the way, of which there are plenty. Nothing is easy. It's always rough.

The Civil War was fought, in a sense, over whether that sentence - all men are created equal - is to be taken literally. And the southerners in the 1850s argued that it was not.

There are a lot of policies that don't work out that are nevertheless worth doing.

Partisanship is not part of my professional makeup.