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

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

People do not change when you tell them they should; they change when they tell themselves they must.

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

In the past when a country became as powerful as the United States, other countries would band together to clip its wings. But that isn't happening now and I don't think it's not going to happen, because other countries are not threatened by us, and they secretly appreciate the services that we provide, even if they don't usually say so.

Let me remind you all that the first task of American foreign policy is to reduce threats to the United States.

The war on terror, I believe, will be waged by effective intelligence and police work and cruise missiles.