Military men are just dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy.

Moderation is a virtue only in those who are thought to have an alternative.

You can't make war in the Middle East without Egypt and you can't make peace without Syria.

History knows no resting places and no plateaus

Taiwan will probably not declare independence. The question isn't independence. The issue is whether Taiwan will declare itself as a sovereign separate state. That will start a huge crisis if that happens.

In the 1960s, I would have considered China with its CPC an ideologically more dynamic country than the Soviet Union. But the Soviet Union was strategically more threatening.

When you travel as secretary, one problem you have is that the press comes with you and wants an immediate result because it justifies their trip. And sometimes the best result is that you don't try to get a result but try to get an understanding for the next time you go to them.