Another longstanding foreign policy flaw is the degree to which special interests dictate the way in which the "national interest" as a whole is defined and pursued.... America's important historic relationship with Israel has often led foreign policy decision-makers to defer reflexively to Israeli security assessments, and to replicate Israeli tactics, which, as the war in Lebanon last summer demonstrated, can turn out to be counter-productive.

There is a convergence of crises that makes it challenging to keep the world's attention.

I think the point that we all agree upon is that we have to engage with Russia.

I think we do have an interest in combating states that try to cross borders and steal parts of other people's country.

Engaging Iran won't guarantee improved U.S.-Iranian relations or a more stable Gulf region. But not engaging means more of the same.

President Reagan, of course, did more than any other person to entrench the Republican reputation for toughness on national security.

American decision-makers must understand how damaging a foreign policy that privileges order and profit over justice really is in the long term.