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" During an economic crisis, what matters is that the government keeps its foot on the accelerator. "
David Ignatius
Matters
Government
Crisis
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" If you walk into the front hallway of the CIA, you will see, on your left, a statue of William 'Wild Bill' Donovan. Bill Donovan was the person who created the OSS, the Office of Strategic Services, which was America's spy agency during World War II and then kind of morphed into what's now the CIA. "
David Ignatius
You
America
World
" Middle Eastern wars rarely end with outright victory and permanent stability, so the word 'settlement' may promise too much. At best, for many years, it may simply mean stable ceasefire lines, reduced bloodshed, fewer refugees, and less terrorism. "
David Ignatius
Victory
Too Much
Best
" Machiavelli did believe that it was better to appear to be good than to be good. If you're good, you're just too vulnerable, but if you appear to be good, you get all the benefits plus you can be sneaky and, when necessary, stab someone in the back. "
David Ignatius
You
Good
Believe
" Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, arguably President Obama's best Cabinet appointment, has been leading a quiet revolution in clean-energy technology. Innovation is transforming this industry, costs are plummeting and entrepreneurs are devising radical new systems that create American jobs - in addition to protecting the planet. "
David Ignatius
Revolution
Best
Technology
" Saudi Arabia is a frightened monarchy. It's beset by Sunni extremists from the Islamic State and Shiite extremists backed by Iran. "
David Ignatius
Saudi
Iran
State
" Foreign policy is about the execution of ideas as much as their formulation. "
David Ignatius
Policy
Execution
Foreign Policy
" A disaffected America can be drawn into a civilized - but disruptive - dialogue about political change and reformation. "
David Ignatius
Change
Dialogue
America
" Fear brings out the best in some people and the worst in others. It's a test of character, for individuals and nations. "
David Ignatius
Best
Test
People
" Russia isn't likely to have any more military success in Syria and Iraq than has the United States. "
David Ignatius
Military
Syria
Success
" The world has changed, the CIA is having to change, and again, the challenge for someone like me as a spy novelist is to write realistically about where they're actually going. "
David Ignatius
Challenge
Change
Someone
" The best restraint is old-fashioned market discipline, in which financial traders know that they, personally, will lose a ton of money if they take risky bets that don't pan out. "
David Ignatius
Financial
Best
Discipline
" U.S. power flows from our unmatched military might, yes. But in a deeper way, it's a product of the dominance of the U.S. economy. "
David Ignatius
Military
Power
Product
" Things felt pretty crazy on earth in 1969, but the cosmos was friendly. Astronauts had round-trip tickets; they got home. "
David Ignatius
Home
Crazy
Earth
" Self-proclaimed saviors and other outliers come and go throughout our political history. Occasionally, they're successful; most times, they're not. But the system has rebalanced toward the basic principles of tolerance, freedom and democracy that were set forth by the Founders. "
David Ignatius
Political
Democracy
History
" 2011 is one of those years that historians are likely to look back on as a 'hinge.' And the truth, at once frightening and exhilarating, is that we don't know yet which way the door will swing. "
David Ignatius
Door
Truth
Swing
" As Obama prepares to begin the last year of his presidency, he stands in an unusual position on the national stage: He is the rationalist, a creature of intellect rather than emotion. "
David Ignatius
Position
Emotion
Last
" At the center of President Obama's strategy for dealing with the Islamic State is an empty space. It's supposed be filled by a 'Sunni ground force,' but after more than a year of effort, it's still not there. Unless this gap is filled, Obama's plan won't work. "
David Ignatius
Space
Effort
Plan
" Maybe it's the spy novelist in me looking for a future plot, but I hope the U.S. and its allies are thinking how to operate 'unconventionally' in Iraq and Syria in ways that undermine the Islamic State. "
David Ignatius
Me
Hope
Future
" The CIA in real life, we know, is looking for new kinds of cover. It's looking for new platforms, as they like to say, and it's trying to use the revolution in communications technology, the ability to use all sorts of corporate entities in ways that are hard to detect to get our spies in the places where they need to be. "
David Ignatius
Life
Technology
Revolution
" The worm of paranoia begins to eat into even the hardest adversary. "
David Ignatius
Worm
Paranoia
Begins
" When historians look at the Obama presidency, they're likely to credit him especially for doing the politically unpopular things that were needed in 2009 to salvage the financial wreckage. "
David Ignatius
Doing
Look
Credit
" This experience of getting so lost in my writing that I lose track of time, or of anything outside the imagined world, is a release for me. "
David Ignatius
Writing
Experience
World
" What frustrates U.S. officials is that China sometimes seems more comfortable accommodating a strong United States, as it did in past decades, than partnering with an America that's less dominant. "
David Ignatius
More
Past
Strong
" I'm as prone to 'declinism' as the next over-mortgaged middle-aged guy. "
David Ignatius
Guy
Prone
Next
" Paradoxically, the United States' determination to protect its troops can be self-defeating. Allies and adversaries see U.S. forces living in secure compounds, eating fancy chow and minimizing their exposure to potential terrorist assaults. "
David Ignatius
Determination
Potential
Eating
" In a chaotic world, U.S. diplomats will probably have even less contact with the people they need to reach. "
David Ignatius
Will
People
World
" Journalists couldn't do their jobs overseas without taking risks, and the same is true for diplomats and intelligence officers. "
David Ignatius
Risks
Taking Risks
True
" The framers hated the tyranny of King George, but they were also afraid of the mob. That's why they put so many checks and balances into our system, to guard against the excesses of a government that might be inflamed by public passion or perverted by a dictator's whim. "
David Ignatius
King
Passion
Tyranny
" The attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi has become a political football in the presidential campaign, with all the grandstanding and misinformation that entails. "
David Ignatius
Become
Political
Football
" The American experiment has always depended on a measure of tolerance and good sense. "
David Ignatius
Tolerance
Measure
American