In my experience, it's not just that serious books get a hearing on comedy shows. But serious books get a serious hearing, as well as a funny one, on comedy shows.

While analogies are useful, however, they can also be misleading. They smuggle in assumptions that can be wrong.

The real threat to world stability is not too much American power. It is too little American power.

The American empire will not disappear... because America does not have an empire.

The government can give citizens opportunity and it's their responsibility to take advantage of it.

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 United States contributes to peace in both by serving as a buffer between and among regional powers that, while not preparing for armed conflict, do not fully trust one another.