I grew up as a discriminated minority in a dictatorship, so obviously the issue of human rights is a matter of concern for me.

The idea of abstract power only exists for academics, not in real life.

Any international system must have two key elements for it to work. One, it has to have a certain equilibrium of power that makes overthrowing the system difficult and costly. Secondly, it has to have a sense of legitimacy.

We have three things in common: Irish wives, the ability to speak for 17 minutes without a verb, and the fact that we both speak with an accent.

In a nuclear war, even if one side were to come out ahead by systems analytical standards, both sides would be so weakened, that it would - they would be in the position of Europe after the two World Wars.

What we in America call terrorists are really groups of people that reject the international system

We cannot always assure the future of our friends; we have a better chance of assuring our future if we remember who our friends are.