Ivo Daalder

“A big challenge in combating terrorism is learning how to think about things that we can't imagine.”

“The more Trump emphasises America First, the more it turns into America Alone.”

“America is a country of immigrants. It's what makes America unique.”

“Many observers believe that the greatest damage Russia has done to U.S. interests in recent years stems from the Kremlin's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential race. Although there is no question that Moscow's meddling in American elections is deeply worrying, it is just one aspect of the threat Russia poses.”

“Syria is a signature to the Geneva Protocol of 1925, which bans the use of chemical warfare. Syria has violated that international norm. For the United States to act in response is the right thing to do, is a legitimate thing to do, and is necessary in order to uphold this very important international standard.”

“Terrorists are everywhere and, emphatically, not only in Iraq.”

“One of the amazing things about September 11 is that we lacked the imagination to connect the dots and foresee it.”

“The only place I've ever been where people were as proud about their city as people are in Chicago is Florence, Italy, where I lived for three years.”

“Donald Trump has proven adept at mobilizing anti-immigrant and anti-trade sentiment among a minority of Americans into a strong movement that seeks to put the United States first in global affairs. Yet, his is not the majority's view.”

“We have not been a normal country when it comes to engagement in the world.”

“Putin wants nothing less than to return Russia to the center of global politics by challenging the primacy that the United States has enjoyed since the end of the Cold War.”

“Anybody who has been to Chicago has a very positive view. But not everybody has come to Chicago, and in many ways, Chicago is an undiscovered treasure. It punches below its weight internationally.”

“Our fundamental goal in getting involved in Bosnia in the summer of 1995 was to end the war. Richard Holbrooke's fundamental goal was to negotiate a peace: a peace that was sustaining and self-sustaining over the long term.”

“We have built up, through our global engagement, a set of institutions that have been built on trust, fundamentally on trust, where allies had trust in the United States to do the right thing when it really came down to it.”

“Under Vladimir Putin, Russia has embarked on a systematic challenge to the West. The goal is to weaken the bonds between Europe and the United States and among E.U. members, undermine NATO's solidarity, and strengthen Russia's strategic position in its immediate neighborhood and beyond.”

“Trump believes all foreigners are playing us for suckers - he sees the world as a dark place. How can you lead alliances when you keep telling your allies they are ripping you off?”

“I follow the Cubs. Only when they play the Nationals do I have a conflict.”

“I think George H.W. Bush was confronted with some huge challenges - the invasion of Kuwait, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the fall of the Soviet Union - that he managed with great aplomb.”

“President Trump is hardly the first U.S. president to call on the European allies to do more - in one form or another, every president since Harry Truman has done so. What is different this time, however, is Trump's suggestion that America's commitment to the alliance is conditional.”

“On climate change, the science is clearer about what you need to do to get a real impact than... on counterterrorism.”