In his essay, ‘Perpetual Peace,’ the philosopher, Immanuel Kant, argued that perpetual peace would eventually come to the world in one of two ways, by human insight or by conflicts and catastrophes of a magnitude that left humanity no other choice. We are at such a juncture.

The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been. The public does not fully understand the world into which it is going. Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision. Those leaders who do not are ultimately judged failures, even though they may be popular at the moment.

We cannot give Russia veto over deployment of forces on NATO territory. But we have to understand their particular sensitivities, and, therefore, there should be a dialogue on these issues.

Leaders are responsible not for running public opinion polls but for the consequences of their actions.

90% of politicians give the other 10% a bad name.

In relations with many domestically weak countries, a radio transmitter can be a more effective form of pressure than a squadron B-52s.

The Russian empire under czars and commissars has been hard to deal with for other countries.