Speeches

Fifty-three years ago, as a young foreign service officer, I helped ensure that Taipei rather than Beijing continued to represent China in the United Nations Security Council and elsewhere internationally.  Since then, I have seen relations between China and

Ladies and gentlemen, I congratulate all of you on your participation in Saudi Aramco’s management development seminar.  Your selection marks you as future leaders of your country’s premier institution.  As such, some of you will become important actors on t

I have spent much of the past fifty years trying to help the United States benefit from a sound, mutually advantageous relationship with China.  I wish both countries well, but I confess I remain primarily concerned about my own country and its future.  The sharp deterioration in Sino-American re

The United States has responded to the rapid growth in Chinese wealth and power by doubling down on efforts to sustain American primacy in the Indo-Pacific.  The unstated presuppositions driving this American response are that:

I have been working on the development of diplomatic doctrine, something we will need when we rebuild America’s atrophied diplomatic capabilities and competencies.  My topic today is the taxonomy of relations between states and the varieties of strategy they have available to them. 

This was not a retaliation, as claimed, but the pre-planned exploitation of a pretext to assassinate a foreign official designated as an enemy as well as the commander of an Iraqi militia hostile to the United States.  It was an act of war that will inevitably evoke reprisal.  Iran has already pr

There is a rhythm in the affairs of men, a pattern shaped by enduring interests.It echoes through the ages.So, it is no surprise that empires and external great powers have regularly found themselves drawn to the Red Sea, Arabian Peninsula, and Persian Gulf region.

Like everyone here, I feel honored to have had the opportunity to serve our country.  I did so for three decades before entering the private sector a quarter century ago.  I now chair a globally engaged business development company and the Committee for the Republic.  I also lecture at Brown Univ