The sad fact is that international politics has always been a ruthless and dangerous business, and it is likely to remain that way.

States have two kinds of power: latent power and military power.

The ideal situation for any state is to experience sharp economic growth while its rivals' economies grow slowly or hardly at all.

In an ideal world, where there are only good states, power would be largely irrelevant.

The liberal tradition has its roots in the Enlightenment, that period in the eighteenth-century Europe when intellectuals and political leaders had a powerful sense that reason could be employed to make the world a better place.

China, in short has the potential to be considerably more powerful than even the United States.

The sad fact is that international politics has always been a ruthless and dangerous business, and it is likely to remain that way.