In the United States today, the Declaration of Independence hangs on schoolroom walls, but foreign policy follows Machiavelli.

Why do we have to be a military superpower? Why can't we be a humanitarian superpower?

One certain effect of war is to diminish freedom of expression.

I see this as the central issue of our time: how to find a substitute for war in human ingenuity, imagination, courage, sacrifice, patience... War is not inevitable, however persistent it is, however long a history it has in human affairs. It does not come out of some instinctive human need. It is manufactured by political leaders, who then must make a tremendous effort--by enticement, by propaganda, by coercion--to mobilize a normally reluctant population to go to war.

History can come in handy. If you were born yesterday, with no knowledge of the past, you might easily accept whatever the government tells you. But knowing a bit of history--while it would not absolutely prove the government was lying in a given instance--might make you skeptical, lead you to ask questions, make it more likely that you would find out the truth.

In a two-party system, if both parties ignore public opinion, there is no place voters can turn.

Will Iraq be a democracy? The question is, 'Will America be a democracy?'