The youth thing never really, from my vantage point, slowed me down. I think the harder audience for me to gain acceptance from was the career diplomatic corps that worked with and for me in the Africa Bureau.

I'm sort of in this rhythm where we want to make the most of the time we have, but when it's done it will be time for it to be done.

Peace, prosperity, and democracy cannot endure if imposed from the outside. We should cease to make false distinctions between peacekeeping and prevention; they are in fact inextricably linked.

The United States share of the African market it's very small, it's only about 8 percent.

The larger picture here is that a North Korea with nuclear weapons adds to the larger proliferation risk.

Governing is different than campaigning, and that comes with a whole different level of responsibility.

I am blunt sometimes; I am diplomatic sometimes; I am all things in between. Abrasive, you know, I guess it's in the eye of the beholder.