Quotes from Richard Engel

Iraq was home of the Abbasid Caliphate, a golden age when the Muslim world was at the forefront of math, science and medicine.

I think it's really important to start thinking about infrastructure as essential national security.

The Arab Spring is over. The days of the protesters with laptops and BlackBerrys in Tahrir Square are long gone.

When students and liberals initially occupied Tahrir Square, it looked like it might be a passing thing.

I think the Chinese model is one that appeals more and more in the developing world. People see that an authoritarian state can hold onto power, can hold on to stability and can drive the economy forward.

Unfortunately, the American policy towards Pakistan is just to worry and express concern, and that is not a clear policy at all.

Everyone knows what can happen to soldiers who are in front line units.

Women, who enjoyed a high social status and levels of education under Saddam, saw terrible setbacks as Iraq fell into civil war. As a result of the sectarian violence from 2005-2007, women retreated to their homes and fell from public view.

Staying in a very public fight with the U.S. is exactly what Al Qaeda wants.

Ethnically, Tuareg describe themselves as white. And they don't look Arab or black. Many Tuareg have light skin, light eyes and sharp angular noses and cheekbones. They are cousins of the Berbers of North Africa. Some legends say the Tuareg are the decedents of an ancient Roman legion that disappeared into the desert two millennia ago.

There are many Israelis who are not keen on Barack Obama - they did not want to see him elected.

Any information about U.S. special operations forces is highly sensitive.

If Syria collapses completely, the United States and the world would have to consider who, and what, fills the vacuum.

An Egyptian newspaper once publicly identified me as the C.I.A. station chief in Cairo. It seemed so stupid at the time. I was only 24, a little young to be a station chief, and, of course, I was never with the C.I.A.

The dangers of an Afghan collapse are many: Afghan deaths, a loss of American prestige, a loss of NATO prestige, a moral blow to U.S. troops and veterans, a Taliban resurgence, huge setbacks for women, and greater power for Pakistan and Pakistani extremists.

In 2009, Hamas was relatively new to power. It had won elections just three years earlier and was flexing its newfound strength via a war with its old enemy, Israel, which it officially wants destroyed.

You gotta love the names. They're so eager, earnest, and hopeful: Camp Prosperity, Camp Liberty, and Camp Victory are the names of just a few of the U.S. military bases in Baghdad.

Many governments are quick to condemn Assad, but a dwindling number of them would celebrate a rebel victory in Damascus.

If democracy brings an undemocratic group to power, is that a victory for democracy?

There is no Afghan Awakening Movement.

Anyone who follows the Middle East and Islamic world in general can't deny it is often a very violent place, that a band of instability now stretches from Algeria to Pakistan.

Lebanon does not have a powerful army.

War can be fun for certain people. It's a magnet for sadists, losers, and angry dreamers.