Geopolitical Risk Quotes

If the Soviet empire still existed, I'd be terrified. The fact is, we can afford a fairly ignorant presidency now.

I still think, despite everything, that the US is very unlikely to attack Iran. It could be a huge catastrophe; nobody knows what the consequences would be. I imagine that only an administration that's really desperate would resort to that.

If we don't want to see the map of Central America covered in a sea of red, eventually lapping at our own borders, we must act now.

If any county achieves absolute security, then all the rest of the countries around them have absolute insecurity.

In 2012, when Mitt Romney named Russia as our greatest geopolitical foe, Democrats scoffed and accused Republicans of trying to ignite a new Cold War.

The United States learned a big lesson. Its greatest danger in the world came not from large nations but from failed states.

There is no such thing as an expert on Russia. There are only people with varying degrees of ignorance.

If America and China collide, both will suffer.

A lot of people have warned President Clinton that Bosnia will turn into another Vietnam, which would be embarrassing for him because he'll have to go back to college.

The global financial crisis - missed by most analysts - shows that most forecasters are poor at pricing in economic/financial risks, let alone geopolitical ones.

Bahrain lies at the epicenter of Gulf security and any violent upheaval in Bahrain would have enormous geopolitical consequences. Global economic stability depends on the uninterrupted export of crude oil from the Gulf to markets around the world - a job that historically has been assigned to the U.S. Fifth Fleet.

The crises in North Korea, Iran, the Middle East, show how quickly things can change and how they can go wrong. We must be prepared. And right now the Army is not.

Most people think the Iraq war has increased the probability of an attack. However, it's difficult to put this aspect into financial terms.

This little upset across the water doesn't mean anything. Threatened men live long and threatened wars never occur.

In fact, it struck me when we invaded last year that if we did it without European and East Asian support, we were risking losing our alliance in Europe in exchange for Iraq, and that is a very undesirable exchange.

[Saddam Hussein] is a threat because he is dealing with al-Qaeda. . . . A true threat facing our country is that an al-Qaeda-type network trained and armed by Saddam could attack America and not leave one fingerprint.

Our safety requires a long-term military presence in the Middle East because that's where the plans to attack us are emanating.

Patrick Murphy's decision to support a deal that infuses the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism with $150 billion, confers international legitimacy on Iran's expansive nuclear program, and even allows Iran to inspect its own military sites demonstrates a lack of judgment and inexperience in matters of national security.

A weak America poses a threat to the future of Israel.

The U.S. must remember - as the Gadhafi loyalists have and Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh are now realizing - that it cannot get into bed with groups affiliated with the jihadist movement.

A Russian naval base in the Persian Gulf would be a very grave menace.

If we end up with war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran at the same time, can anyone see a more damaging prospect for America's world role than that?

We stand stoutly against all forms of terrorism, and cross-border terror is a particular problem that India has. Singapore has a problem with cross-border terror, too, because we are a very small country, and it is quite possible for an attack to be mounted on Singapore from beyond our shores.

Either we're removing a dictator who currently has plans to fund terrorism against American citizens or -- if Bush is completely wrong and Eleanor Clift is completely right -- we're just removing a dictator who plans to terrorize a lot of people in the region, but not Americans specifically. Even for someone like me, who doesn't want America to be the world's policeman, the risk of precipitous action against Saddam Hussein doesn't keep me up at night.

In my opinion, there are two focal points of the war danger. The first focal point is the Far East zone of Japan. The second focal point in the zone is Germany.