American foreign policy, for all its shortcomings, has underpinned political stability around the world.

First of all, the world criticizes American foreign policy because Americans criticize American foreign policy. We shouldn't be surprised about that. Criticizing government is a God-given right - at least in democracies.

The less oil the world uses, the less important the region that has so much of it becomes.

The United States doesn't do what it does in the world for altruistic reasons. Nobody set out to be the world's government.

The windfall of great riches can, if mismanaged, make things worse, not better, for the recipients.

All policy is a matter of gains and losses, upsides and downsides.

The American political system is so porous, it's so open, it's so frustrating for those who are trying to make policy.