Fools, most linguists. Damn all to say in one language, so they learn another and say damn all in that.

There is a big difference between fighting the cold war and fighting radical Islam. The rules have changed and we haven't.

I've got more than one string to my bow, and I thought I'd give this one a twang.

If there is one eternal truth of politics, it is that there are always a dozen good reasons for doing nothing.

It was a charming fantasy of romantics that the spies would stop spying, that political conflict would end and politicians would tell the truth. Unfortunately that has not been the case.

When a problem threatens to engulf you, there's nothing like irrelevant detail to keep your head above water.

...also took for granted that secret services were the only real measure of a nations political health, the only real expression of its subconscious.