The thing that I would say is that U.S. power is not eternal. I am not saying that it won't come to an end. Because it will.

If a caterpillar doesn't know its future has wings, it hardly experiences itself as land-bound.

In my view, America has never had the opportunity to enter paradise. Europe enjoys the paradise it enjoys, in part because the United States provides the overall security that allows Europe to live in a system where military power is not a major issue.

It is true that I have known Straussians almost all my life. And the one thing I was taught about them from the earliest age is that they are wrong.

Obviously the administration intends to publicize all the weapons of mass destruction U.S. forces find - and there will be plenty.

Based on all criteria - military power, economic influence, cultural dominance - America remains number one, even though other, new players are increasingly challenging it in that role.

I left Russia in 1993 optimistic that democracy had taken hold despite the obstacles.