We have actually experienced in recent months a dramatic demonstration of an unprecedented intelligence failure, perhaps the most significant intelligence failure in the history of the United States.

The potential for regional conflict in the absence of an internationally active America is real.

The Chinese are really good at diplomacy - and even at making their interlocutors feel very uncomfortable.

I'm all in favour of grand important speeches, but the president then has to link his sermons to a strategy.

Fortunately, we Argentines have decided to change. We believe politics needs to be led by public servants with a vocation to give and construct.

We've got to win this battle, and we will. We have to win the peace.

I've always viewed politics the following way: if you do a good job at the job you're doing, you'll have opportunities to do other things in the future. Maybe things you never envisioned.

A friend of mine suddenly announced she had written a novel and got a publishing deal; I thought, 'Hang on... if she can do it, I can bloody well do it, too.' That novel went to a bidding war, and went on to be a huge best-seller.