The Obama doctrine of ignoring international issues and claiming it's none of the U.S.' business is a philosophy that has allowed Russia, Iran, and China to step up and take the lead.

Diplomacy and coalition-building are hard work and not easy for any president.

If you don't want war, then you had better be an advocate for diplomacy with muscle.

The Obama Doctrine is the first presidential strategy in history that is exclusively about communicating - not implementing - policy. The Obama Doctrine seems to be 'tweet with overwhelming force.'

I think people are just really disappointed, disappointed with Blair as well, who's just like Bush's lapdog. I think everyone's just disillusioned with politics in our country, and it must be the same in your country.

The '50s in general are written off as a boring decade following the turmoil of the Second World War and its immediate aftermath - the postwar Labour government, the cold war, the arrival of the New Look in fashion, etc. But I remember it as a very exciting time - a pioneering, rule-breaking time, especially for the young.

On some level, there's a limit to what the government really worries about when it comes to a guy like Ai Weiwei, who's talking to a limited audience of people. He's talking to people who more or less already agree with him.

The Chinese government attaches importance to, and protects, human rights. We have incorporated these lines into the Chinese constitution, and we also implement the stipulation in real earnest. I think for any government, what is most important is to ensure that its people enjoy each and every right given to them by the constitution.