Quotes from H.R. McMaster

It's so damn complex. If you ever think you have the solution to this, you're wrong and you're dangerous.

Military operations alone cannot defeat an insurgency because only economic development and political action can address most sources of disaffection. If military operations are not conducted consistent with political objectives or occur without economic development, they are certain to alienate the population further, reduce the amount of intelligence available to [...] security forces, and strengthen rather than weaken the enemy.

education combined with the restoration of civility in public discourse can reduce the vitriol that widens the fissures in society that Russia and others exploit.

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep. —SAUL BELLOW

Consistency and will are, therefore, important dimensions of strategic competence. But our will is diminished. As our foreign policies swung from over-optimism to resignation, identity politics interacted with new forms of populism. That interaction divided us and diminished confidence in our democratic principles, institutions, and processes.