How to Resolve the North Korea Crisis

The Wall Street Journal
August 11, 2017

An understanding between the U.S. and Beijing is the essential prerequisite. Tokyo and Seoul also have key roles to play.

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The Man Who Saved Europe the Last Time

The Wall Street Journal
April 28, 2017

(Adapted from an April 25 speech to the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.) The attribute of greatness is reserved for leaders from whose time onward history can be told only in terms of their achievements. I observed essential elements of Germany’s history—as a native son, as a refugee from its upheavals, as a soldier in the American […]

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Out of the Brexit Turmoil: Opportunity

The Wall Street Journal
June 29, 2016

The cascade of commentary on Britain’s decision to leave institutional Europe has described the epochal event primarily in the vocabulary of calamity. However, the coin of the realm for statesmen is not anguish or recrimination; it should be to transform setback into opportunity. The impact of the British vote is so profound because the emotions […]

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A Path Out of the Middle East Collapse

The Wall Street Journal
October 16, 2015

The debate about whether the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran regarding its nuclear program stabilized the Middle East’s strategic framework had barely begun when the region’s geopolitical framework collapsed. Russia’s unilateral military action in Syria is the latest symptom of the disintegration of the American role in stabilizing the Middle East order that […]

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Reflections on the Marshall Plan

Harvard Gazette
May 22, 2015

In June 1947, Gen. George C. Marshall — revered as the “organizer of victory” and Army Chief of Staff during World War II and now five months into his tenure as President Harry S. Truman’s Secretary of State — addressed the Commencement audience in Harvard Yard. Describing the devastation of Europe’s economies and societies, Marshall […]

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The Iran Deal and Its Consequences

The Wall Street Journal
April 7, 2015

Inspections and Enforcement

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The World Will Miss Lee Kuan Yew

The Washington Post
March 23, 2015

Lee Kuan Yew was a great man. And he was a close personal friend, a fact that I consider one of the great blessings of my life. A world needing to distill order from incipient chaos will miss his leadership. Lee emerged onto the international stage as the founding father of the state of Singapore, […]

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How the Ukraine Crisis Ends

The Washington Post
March 6, 2014

Public discussion on Ukraine is all about confrontation. But do we know where we are going? In my life, I have seen four wars begun with great enthusiasm and public support, all of which we did not know how to end and from three of which we withdrew unilaterally. The test of policy is how […]

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Ariel Sharon’s Journey from Soldier to Statesman

The Washington Post
January 14, 2014

Arik Sharon started as a warrior. He ended his career on the way to being a peacemaker. On that journey from fighting in every one of Israel’s wars to lying comatose for eight years in a Jerusalem hospital, he symbolized the anguish and dilemmas of Israel. A people who had come to their historic homeland […]

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What a Final Iran Deal Must Do

The Wall Street Journal
December 3, 2013

A credible agreement must dismantle or mothball the key parts of Tehran's nuclear infrastructure. As former secretaries of state, we have confronted the existential issue of nuclear weapons and negotiated with adversaries in attempts to reduce nuclear perils. We sympathize with the current administration's quest to resolve the Iranian nuclear standoff through diplomacy. We write […]

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