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

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

This self-defeating behavior, so the argument goes, must be the result of warped domestic politics.

In the anarchic world of international politics, it is better to be Godzilla than Bambi.

The Soviet Union and its empire disappeared in large part because its smokestack economy could no longer keep up with the technological progress of the world's major economic powers.

Bandwagoning is a strategy for the weak.

A state's potential power is based on the size of its population and the level of its wealth.