The West may collapse very suddenly. Complex civilizations do that, because they operate, most of the time, on the edge of chaos.
Niall FergusonThe Armenian genocide showed what could happen when empires were beaten into nations.
Niall FergusonI think that it is important to be gregarious, and that friendships are not just a leisure pursuit, that they are an integral part of what it is to be human, and one does better work if one has a circle of friends that is active.
Niall FergusonIt's all very well for us to sit here in the west with our high incomes and cushy lives, and say it's immoral to violate the sovereignty of another state. But if the effect of that is to bring people in that country economic and political freedom, to raise their standard of living, to increase their life expectancy, then don't rule it out.
Niall Ferguson