“ Galvanized people can do careless things. It is in the extreme and emotion-laden moments that distance and coolness are most required. I am tempted to howl in rage. It is not my place to do so. My job… George Friedman
“ The idea that the president has the power to craft a new strategy both overstates his power and understates the power of reality crafted by those who came before him. We are all trapped in circumstanc… George Friedman
“ A president must know what it is he does not know, and he should remain calm in pursuit of it, but there is no obligation to be honest about it. George Friedman
“ The reality is that the American people have no desire for an empire. This is not to say that they don't want the benefits, both economic and strategic. It simply means that they don't want to pay the… George Friedman
“ Secularism drew a radical distinction between public and private life, in which religion, in any traditional sense, was relegated to the private sphere with no hold over public life. There are many ch… George Friedman
“ The worst president is closer by nature to the best then either is to anyone who has not gone through what it requires to become president. George Friedman
“ Presidents and other politicians manage the appearance of things, largely by manipulating the air and hope. George Friedman
“ While you and I are allowed the luxury of our pain, president isn't. A president must take into account how his citizens feel and he must manage them and lead them, but he must not succumb to personal… George Friedman
“ Their job as leader was not to solve the problem – the president really has little control over the economy – but to convince the public not only that he has a plan but that he is altogether confident… George Friedman
“ The threats that resurfaced in the past 10 years were not an aberration. Al Qaeda and terrorism or one such threat, but it was actually not the most serious threat that the United States faced. The pr… George Friedman
“ The great presidents never forget the principle of the republic and seek to preserve and enhance them – in the long run– without undermining the needs of the moment. Bad presidents simply do what is e… George Friedman
“ Long-term solutions are more attractive and cause much less controversy than short-term solutions, which will affect people who are still alive and voting. George Friedman
“ Wars are times of intense technological transformation, because societies invest – sometimes with extensive borrowing – when and where matters of life and death are at stake. George Friedman
“ Anger does not make history. Power does. And power may be supplemented by anger, but it derives from more fundamental realities; geography, demographics, technology, and culture. George Friedman
“ Building a naval power takes generations, not so much to develop the necessary technology as to pass along the accumulated experience that creates good admirals. George Friedman
“ The computer focuses ruthlessly on things that can be represented in numbers. In so doing, it seduces people into thinking that other aspects of knowledge are either unreal or unimportant. The compute… George Friedman
