"Despite its economic slowdown, Japan retains impressive power resources. It is a democracy that has been at peace for 70 years, with a stable society and a high standard of living. Its per capita income is five times that of China, and Beijing residents can only envy Tokyo's air quality and product safety standards. Its economy remains the world's third largest overall, sustained by highly sophisticated industry."

"The US should stay out of the business of invasion and occupation. In an age of nationalism and socially mobilized populations, foreign occupation, as Eisenhower wisely concluded in the 1950s, is bound to breed resentment. But what takes its place? Is air power and the training of foreign forces enough? Particularly in the Middle East, where revolutions are likely to last for a generation, a smart combination of hard and soft power will be difficult to achieve."

"...[I]t is worth remembering that the first nuclear-arms control agreements — the Test Ban Treaty of 1963 and the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968 — did not solve all of the problems of controlling nuclear weapons. Rather, they started a process. Perhaps Obama and Xi's modest beginning will do something similar."

"If we define 'the American century' as the period since World War II when the United States—without full control—became the central actor in the global balance of power, that is likely to remain true in 2041, the centennial of when Henry Luce first proclaimed the term."

"...[T]he boots on the ground must be Sunni. The presence of foreign or Shia troops reinforces the Islamic State's claim of being surrounded and challenged by infidels. So far, thanks largely to effective Kurdish forces, who are overwhelmingly Sunni, the Islamic State has lost some 30% of the territory it held a year ago. But deploying additional Sunni infantry requires training, support, and time, as well as pressure on Iraq's Shia-dominated central government to temper its sectarian approach"

"Military force will remain a crucial component of American power, but it is not sufficient. An American strategy that holds the military balance in Europe or East Asia while maintaining alliances is a crucial source of influence, but trying to occupy and control the internal politics of nationalistic populations in the Middle East revolutions is futile."

"It would be a mistake to cast the prospects for an improved US-India relationship solely in terms of China's rising power. Indian economic success is an American interest on its own. So is the open approach taken by India and Brazil on issues such as governance of the Internet, at a time when Russia and China are seeking more authoritarian control."

"Consciously or not, the first Bush administration chose the right path when it decided against moving farther into Iraq. It remains a lesson to remember today: Trying to occupy and control the internal politics of nationalistic populations in the Middle East revolutions is a recipe for failure."

Nicholas Burns, Professor of Practice at the Harvard Kennedy School,  Michele Flournoy, Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center and CEO of the Center for a New American Security, Joseph Nye, Professor and Former Dean of the Harvard Kennedy School andJames Walsh, Research Associate with the MIT Security Studies program were among a group of 60 former national security officials and analysts who signed a statement in favor of the nuclear agreement with Iran. The statement, while acknowledging faults with the agreement, supported it and urged the Administration and Congress to work closely to implement the deal.

"The other limit is China reluctance to take full advantage of an uncensored civil society. As noted by the Economist, the Chinese Communist Party has not bought into the idea that soft power springs largely from individuals, the private sector, and civil society. Instead, it has clung to the view that the government is the main source of soft power, promoting ancient cultural icons that it thinks might have global appeal, often using the tools of propaganda."