Quotes from David Ignatius

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.

Russia is emerging as an essential diplomatic and security partner for the U.S. in Syria, despite the Obama administration's opposition to Moscow's support for President Bashar al-Assad.

If you want to hear arguments against deploying a big U.S. ground force in Syria, just ask a general.

The nation's chronic weakness is its political system, which is nearing dysfunction. If the U.S. can elect better political leadership, it should be able to manage problems better than most competitors.

Making economic policy isn't a popularity contest, especially when financial markets are in a panic.

We're grappling with the same issue facing all advanced economies - how to revive growth and distribute its fruits more fairly. An America that can tackle that problem head-on can perhaps help revive a stagnant global economy.

Journalists couldn't do their jobs overseas without taking risks, and the same is true for diplomats and intelligence officers.

We have a complicated intelligence relationship with France. We have a complicated intelligence relationship with other - with other allies.

Yes, Europe needs to be more welcoming, but that's only half of it. Muslims need to embrace the obligations of European residence and citizenship.

Training a reliable military force that adheres to Western norms and standards is the work of a generation, not a few months.

Real security will come when it's a moneymaker for private companies who want to satisfy public demand for an Internet that isn't crawling with bugs.

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.

In a chaotic world, U.S. diplomats will probably have even less contact with the people they need to reach.

Prominent scientists have become increasingly convinced that the connection between carbon emissions and rising temperatures is real, but skeptics have whole truckloads of studies to demonstrate the opposite.

I'm as prone to 'declinism' as the next over-mortgaged middle-aged guy.

A world in which there are no secrets that can be protected at all is going to be a pretty dangerous world.

The revival of the U.S. financial system after the crash of 2008 is arguably the Obama administration's biggest domestic policy success.

Empty political space will be filled by extremists unless the United States and its allies build strong local forces that can suppress terrorist groups and warlords both. When the U.S. creates such local forces, it must be persistent. If it withdraws from these efforts, as America did in Iraq in 2011, it invites mayhem.

Foreign policy is about the execution of ideas as much as their formulation.

The secret of any kind of reporting is to go with a guide. So if you, you're going to see Hezbollah in Beirut, you go with someone who knows the local people, and you'll be fine.

We haven't usually had to face the extreme questions about liberty and order because we're not a nation of extremists. We love freedom and good government both.

The surest way to empower the new terrorist gangs would be to withdraw from U.S. diplomatic missions.

It's a genuine dilemma for governments, deciding how much information to share in this threat-filled era.

Movies have a way of distilling moments in our culture, and 'Gravity' may be the defining film for the lost-in-space year of 2013: Nothing works.