The rise of the West is, quite simply, the pre-eminent historical phenomenon of the second half of the second millennium after Christ.

To make a living space, there first had to be a killing space.

Oral history is a recipe for complete misrepresentation because almost no one tells the truth, even when they intend to.

It’s our generation that is witnessing the end of Western predominance. The average American used to be more than 20 times richer than the average Chinese. Now it’s just five times, and soon it will be 2.5 times.

I refuse to accept that Western civilization is like some hopeless old version of Microsoft DOS, doomed to freeze, then crash. I still cling to the hope that the United States is the Mac to Europe's PC, and that if one part of the West can successfully update and reboot itself, it's America.

The law of unintended consequences is the only real law of history.

You really struggle to be a successful empire if you are also the world's biggest debtor.