Robert Kagan Military Quotations

Under our Constitution, military leaders have no choice but to endorse the president's decision after giving him their best advice.

In my view, America has never had the opportunity to enter paradise. Europe enjoys the paradise it enjoys, in part because the United States provides the overall security that allows Europe to live in a system where military power is not a major issue.

Based on all criteria - military power, economic influence, cultural dominance - America remains number one, even though other, new players are increasingly challenging it in that role.

I think most Americans believe that although it's better not to use military force if you can avoid it, that the world simply doesn't provide us the luxury of giving away military force as an important tool of foreign policy.

When you have a hammer, all problems start to look like nails. But nations without great military power face the opposite danger: When you don't have a hammer, you don't want anything to look like nails.

Based on all criteria - military power, economic influence, cultural dominance - America remains number one, even though other, new players are increasingly challenging it in that role.

Europe, partly because of the sort of political miracle it accomplished on the European continent, has developed a very strong faith in international institutions, international legal mechanisms, as the key to international order, and have really begun to view military power as an illegitimate form of activity, but in any case, something that is to be avoided at almost all costs.