Michael Mandelbaum

“The world needs a strong America.”

“The windfall of great riches can, if mismanaged, make things worse, not better, for the recipients.”

“The United States plays, for the most part, a constructive global role, and to the extent that that role shrinks, other countries, even those most critical of what America does abroad, will suffer.”

“The war on terror, I believe, will be waged by effective intelligence and police work and cruise missiles.”

“In my experience, it's not just that serious books get a hearing on comedy shows. But serious books get a serious hearing, as well as a funny one, on comedy shows.”

“Economic growth is necessary to keep the promise - enormously important to individual Americans - that each generation will have the opportunity to become more prosperous than the preceding one, the popular term for which is 'the American dream.'”

“To call the American role in the world imperial was, for many who did so, a way of asserting that the United States was misusing its power beyond its borders and, in so doing, subverting its founding political principles within them.”

“In the past, a blow to the international system's strongest power would have been welcomed by its rivals. In the wake of September 11, however, every significant government in the world declared its support for the United States.”

“Read the news section of the newspaper and there is confusion and uncertainty, a world buffeted by large forces people neither understand nor control. But turn to the sports section and it's all different.”

“American influence in the world is certainly considerable, but the United States does not control, directly or indirectly, the politics and economics of other societies, as empires have always done, save for a few special cases that turn out to be the exceptions that prove the rule.”

“Words matter, especially words defining complicated political arrangements, because they shape perceptions of the events of the past, attitudes toward policies being carried out in the present, and expectations about desirable directions for the future.”

“Great wars can only be fought by great powers.”

“The American political system is so porous, it's so open, it's so frustrating for those who are trying to make policy.”

“The cardinal sin in sports, what could really wreck it, is not cheating to win, which has gone on forever, but cheating to lose. That threatens a fundamental aspect of sports' appeal, which is their spontaneity. If games are fixed, they're no different from movies; they're scripted.”

“While analogies are useful, however, they can also be misleading. They smuggle in assumptions that can be wrong.”

“The amount of military force necessary to provide reassurance depends on how dangerous people think the world is. And that I think ultimately depends upon the kinds of government that hold sway in major countries.”

“The attacks of September 11 persuaded many Americans that what might seem to be obscure or distant potential threats can very quickly materialize and it therefore makes sense to attend to them even before they become urgent.”

“Let me remind you all that the first task of American foreign policy is to reduce threats to the United States.”

“The government can give citizens opportunity and it's their responsibility to take advantage of it.”

“All policy is a matter of gains and losses, upsides and downsides.”