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

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

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

Great wars can only be fought by great powers.

The attacks of September 11, 2001, were spectacular, riveting, grim, costly and searing. The shock that they caused reverberated throughout the world. What happened in New York and Washington and Pennsylvania ended the lives of thousands of people and changed the lives of many more. But they did not change the world.

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 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.