The negotiations were simultaneously cerebral and physical, abstract and personal, something like a combination of chess and mountain climbing.
There's no question that the next generation of terrorists, rather than going for small, little dramas, will go for the big one. They now understand that the way to get the world's attention is not strapping bombs to themselves in a pizza parlour, but to do something so horrific it gets you into the Guinness Book of World Records for terrorism.
As countries grapple with modernization, people who are left behind tend to hold firmer and firmer to their view of the evil of modernity.
I still believe in the possibility of the United States, with all its will and all its strength, and I don't just mean military, persevering against any challenge. I still believe in that.
The World War II generation believed the United States could do anything - anything... And Vietnam was a shattering experience for everyone.
The male elites that run most countries are exceedingly uncomfortable with the subject of AIDS because it's a sexually transmitted disease.
We should not be surprised that democracy is imperfect even in Western countries.
World War I was not inevitable, as many historians say. It could have been avoided, and it was a diplomatically botched negotiation.
