Russia can be either an empire or a democracy, but it cannot be both. . . . Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be an empire, but with Ukraine suborned and then subordinated, Russia automatically becomes an empire.

Moreover, as America becomes an increasingly multi-cultural society, it may find it more difficult to fashion a consensus on foreign policy issues, except in the circumstance of a truly massive and widely perceived direct external threat.

We have actually experienced in recent months a dramatic demonstration of an unprecedented intelligence failure, perhaps the most significant intelligence failure in the history of the United States.

In Iraq we must succeed. Failure is not an option.

History is much more the product of chaos than of conspiracy

Today it is infinitely easier to kill one million people than to control one million people.

Because you can't intervene everywhere, you don't conclude you can't intervene anywhere.