If one of the drafters of the Declaration of Independence came back today, he would not be surprised about what Americans were saying and believing and articulating in their public statements. It would all sound rather familiar.

Nationalism is a central ideology for people who are trying to establish their own states in which they can play a dominant role.

Obviously Pakistan and the U.S. are very different countries, but we have common geopolitical interests in preventing communist take over in Afghanistan and hence, now that Pakistan has a government that we can cooperate with, even though it is a military government, we are working together with them in order to promote our common interests. But obviously we also differ with Pakistan on a number of issues.

The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.

Maybe Iraq will come back and become the dominant power among Arab countries. That seems to me as conceivable.

I don't know what will happen 100 years from now.

In the coming decades, questions of identity, meaning cultural heritage, language, and religion will play a central role in politics.