American Power Worldwide Is At Its Historic

The Momentum Of Asia's Economic Development Is Already Generating Massive Pressures For The Exploration And Exploitation Of New Sources Of Energy And The Central Asian Region And The Caspian Sea Basin Are Known To Contain Reserves Of Natural Gas And Oil That Dwarf Those Of Kuwait, The Gulf Of Mexico, Or The North Sea.

Never Before Has A Populist Democracy Attained International Supremacy. But The Pursuit Of Power Is Not A Goal That Commands Popular Passion, Except In Conditions Of A Sudden Threat Or Challenge To The Public's Sense Of Domestic Well-being. The Economic Self-denial (that Is, Defense Spending) And The Human Sacrifice (casualties, Even Among Professional Soldiers) Required In The Effort Are Uncongenial To Democratic Instincts. Democracy Is Inimical To Imperial Mobilization.

We Shouldn't Overdramatize The Current Disagreements With The Russians. They Are Real, But They're Not Really All That Threatening. And The Notion That We're Moving Back To Some Cold War I Think Is Really An Exaggerated Judgment.

Look At Islam In A Rational Manner And Without Demagoguery Or Emotion. It Is The Leading Religion Of The World With 1.5 Billion Followers.

An Arc Of Crisis Stretches Along The Shores Of The Indian Ocean, With Fragile Social And Political Structures In A Region Of Vital Importance To Us Threatened With Fragmentation. The Resulting Political Chaos Could Well Be Filled By Elements Hostile To Our Values And Sympathetic To Our Adversaries.