Politics or ideology must not get in the way of sound planning.
The United Nations has a critical role to play in promoting stability, security, democracy, human rights, and economic development. The UN is as relevant today as at any time in its history, but it needs reform.
I took an oath of office to the Constitution, I didn't take an oath of office to my party or my president.
Closing Guantanamo Bay is not a military solution. The closing of that prison, which I support, I supported it when I was in the Senate, requires more than just a military dimension.
There are always consequences to actions that you take. There are consequences to inaction. And thinking through, asking the questions, "Well, then what happens? What comes next?" is critically important.
No one person leads alone - can't do it, it's impossible. It doesn't make any sense. You need a team.
We live in a world of absolute immediacy. It is an interconnected, combustible world, where technology and many other actions have given nonstate actors a reach, into countries and societies, for both good and evil, that we have never seen before. So it isn't a matter of just state versus state challenges or conflict. The bigger problem is nonstate actors.
You can have all the capabilities; if you don't have the quality people, you don't have much.
And this - this board was - was impanelled in 1951. And it's gone through ups and downs in how the secretaries have used it. But I have put a premium on that advisory board.
Things aren't getting better; they're getting worse. The White House is completely disconnected from reality. It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq.
Peace comes through dealing with people. Peace doesn't come at the end of a bayonet or the end of a gun.
The president of the United States is the commander in chief, and the people who work with him at the National Security Council are his arm in working with the Defense Department. And, quite frankly, they have responsibility for all of the government. We are one component of the government.
Engagement is not appeasement. Engagement is not surrender.
Alliances and international organizations should be understood as opportunities for leadership and a means to expand our influence, not as constraints on our power.
History has shown that a country most effectively speaks with one voice. When nationally elected officials work together, build consensus, and provide leadership, the American people will follow.
This is a complicated time to govern in the world today because of so much going on and it's coming at us at such an unprecedented rate.
I'm not sure leaders listen enough, especially to their people. And I've always thought in everything I've tried to do in my life, in the jobs I've had, is that if we can turn our transmitters off and our receivers on more often, we're better leaders and we know more of what is going on and therefore we can lead more effectively.
I think this is the biggest lesson a president or any of us who has responsibility to govern have to learn: There are always consequences to actions that you take. There are consequences to inaction.
Institutions are imperfect. Governments surely are. People are.
Assad must go. He's lost the legitimacy to govern.
We must prepare for everything.
No one individual vote, no one individual quote or no one individual statement defines me, my beliefs, or my record.
Nations, great nations have limitations. All nations have limitations. Even great powers have limitations.
Foreign policy will require a strategic agility that, whenever possible, gets ahead of problems, strengthens U.S. security and alliances, and promotes American interests and credibility.
No border that touches Israel is always secure.
