A world without the United Nations or with a paralyzed United Nations would be far more costly to all of us and far more dangerous to peace and stability.

Diplomacy is like jazz: endless variations on a theme.

Know something about something. Don’t just present your wonderful self to the world. Constantly amass knowledge and offer it around.

Nothing generates more heat in the government than the question of who is chosen to participate in important meetings.

The United Nations is an indispensable but deeply flawed organization. It is valuable to the United States, and the United States is invaluable to it. We need to reform it.

Our enemy is Al Qaeda and its allies, people who have publicly said they wish to attack the United States again, people who have publicly called on nuclear physicists and engineers to help them gain access to nuclear weapons, which, as the whole world knows, Pakistan has.

World War I was not inevitable, as many historians say. It could have been avoided, and it was a diplomatically botched negotiation.