Success in foreign policy, as in carpentry, requires the right tools for the job.
Nationalism is a tool increasingly used by leaders to bolster their authority, especially amid difficult economic and political conditions.
Good people cannot fully compensate for bad process, but they can mitigate some of its worst tendencies.
I believe in diplomacy; I don't believe in talking to... that talking to Iran somehow constitutes a concession or a favour.
Wars of necessity are essentially unavoidable. They involve the most important national interests, a lack of promising alternatives to the use of force, and a certain and considerable price to be paid if the status quo is allowed to stand. Examples include World War II and the Korean War.
If Trump, for whatever reason, continues to coddle Russia, then Congress, the media, foundations, and academics should publicly detail the corruption that characterizes Putin's rule.
I am confident in saying that Oberlin did more for me than vice versa. I took a fantastic class in religion, which led me to archaeology, which got me to the Middle East, which led me to international relations, which launched me on my career.
Speaking truth to power is actually a form of loyalty.
Unrestrained zeal to make the world better could make it worse. Promoting democracy must be undertaken with humility, care, and wisdom.
The political world is defined by relationships rather than transactions, and by numerous actors at home and abroad with independent power. Navigating such a world is difficult and precarious.
Democracy requires an informed citizenry able to question its government.
Diplomacy can and will matter; little is inevitable in international relations.
What countries must do to join the World Trade Organization is precisely what they must do to become productive and democratic: accept the rule of law, reduce corruption, and become open, accountable, and transparent.
American influence in the world depends on the ability to act with real capacity and set an example that others will want to follow. This all takes resources.
Trade is the all-but-forgotten weapon in the battle against poverty, but it can provide more help to the poor than aid can.
Indeed, in foreign policymaking, inconsistency is often a virtue. I speak not of principles but of policy.
The Internet, one of the great inventions of the modern Western world, has shown itself to be a weapon that can be used to incite and train those who wish to cause harm to that world.
Dissent is difficult. It can constitute a real dilemma for the person who disagrees.
In a world in which the United States does less, whatever set of calculations, other countries will tend to calculate - to move in one of two ways. Either they will assuage or, to use a more loaded term, appease the strongest power in the neighborhood with all the consequences of that, or they will determine to take matters into their own hands.
Terrorism is a decentralized phenomenon - in its funding, planning, and execution.
