Speeches
Transitions amidst Troubled Waters
It’s an honor and pleasure to be with you once again in this very different part of China. You wouldn’t know it to look at Macau’s malls, hotels, and casinos, but this is where contact between China and the modernizing West began. The arrival here of Jorge Álvares in May 1513 began a compl
Change without Progress in the Middle East
It’s an honor to have been asked once again to address this important annual conference on U.S.-Arab relations. The theme of this year’s discussion is “transition within constancy.” I confess I’m still trying to figure out what that means. My best guess is that it’s something like “progre
Nobody's Century: The American Prospect in Post-Imperial Times
It’s an honor to join the 27th class here tonight, and to meet some alumni of previous Seminar XXI sessions. I understand that participants in Seminar XXI spend a year rethinking national security problems, looking at them holistically and from more than an American perspective.
Paramountcy Lost: Challenges for American Diplomacy in a Competitive World Order
It’s a pleasure to be here among academics, aspiring policy-makers and public servants, as well – I see – as a few defunct diplomats and diplomatresses like myself. I’m here to exchange views with you about the new era we are entering, the changing place of the United States within it, and s
Indo-Pacific Dynamics in Trans-Pacific Perspective
Since the end of the Cold War, the Indo-Pacific region has emerged as the world’s most dynamic geopolitical zone. Shifting balances of power there are reshaping international perceptions.
China and America: The Pivotal Relationship for Affordable Security?
There is now no international relationship of greater consequence than that between China and America. There will be no "G-2," but how our two countries manage our relations will make a decisive difference not just to our future but to that of the world.
The United States and China Forty Years On
Forty years ago next Tuesday, on a clear, cold afternoon in Beijing, I followed President Nixon onto the tarmac at Beijing’s Capital Airport. I have a belated confession to make. When I tried to sleep on Air Force One on the way to Beijing, I was jolted awake by a nightmare. I dreamed tha
From Macau: A Weather Eye on the Event Horizon
I’ve been asked me to look around the world’s horizons and to venture a prediction or two as we prepare to enter a new year. This is never an easy task. We rarely, if ever, understand our past properly, still less our present. So, even in the dullest of times, when we project the future,
The Mess in the Middle East
When John Duke Anthony asked me to kick off this two-day meeting by talking about recent events and what they might mean for U.S.-Arab relations and U.S.
China, Latin America, and the United States in the Changing World Order
I had a feeling that Stape Roy didn’t invite me to speak this morning because I have a degree in Latin American studies — though I do. I suspected he wanted me to talk about the evolving global order and the place of China, Latin America, and the United States within it. I accept this challe