This country cannot afford to tear itself apart on a partisan basis on issues so vital to our national security.

China is a country with a record of continuous self-government going back 4,000 years, the only society that has achieved this. One must start with the assumption that they must have learnt something about the requirements for survival, and it is not always to be assumed that we know it better than they do.

We must learn to distinguish morality from moralizing.

A diamond is a chunk of coal that is made good under pressure.

I do not believe that Putin intends to leave office in a Cold War atmosphere with the United States.

While we should never give up our principles, we must also realize that we cannot maintain our principles unless we survive.

If the six-nation forums dealing with Iran and North Korea suffer comparable failures, the consequence will be a world of unchecked proliferation, not controlled by either governing principles or functioning institutions. A modern, strong, peaceful Iran could become a pillar of stability and progress in the region. This cannot happen unless Iran's leaders decide whether they are representing a cause or a nation - whether their basic motivation is crusading or international cooperation. The goal of the diplomacy of the Six should be to oblige Iran to confront this choice.