Quotes About Strategy

We won't be doing anything to protect the environment," Plouffe had barked when questioned by a group of advocates, "if we lose Ohio and Pennsylvania!" —

Gates recommended against a raid, although he was open to considering the strike option. He raised the precedent of the April 1980 attempt to rescue the fifty-three American hostages held in Iran, known as Desert One, which had turned catastrophic after a U.S. military helicopter crashed in the desert, killing eight servicemembers. It was a reminder, he said, that no matter how thorough the planning, operations like this could go badly wrong.

I would often surprise people by citing George H. W. Bush as a recent president whose foreign policy I admired. Bush, along with James Baker, Colin Powell, and Brent Scowcroft, had deftly managed the end of the Cold War and the successful prosecution of the Gulf War.

Over time, though, the team was able to arrive at a coherent set of principles to guide a shift in strategy. Under the emerging plan, U.S. officials across agencies would be expected to deliver a consistent and coordinated message on the need for reform; they would develop specific recommendations for liberalizing political and civic life in various countries and offer a range of new incentives to encourage their adoption. By

But in the eyes of the public, at least, foreign policy in the nineties lacked any overarching theme or grand imperatives.

casings, the last remnants of tactical nuclear

You ready for me, Wen?" I called out, watching the Chinese leader's face drop in surprise. I then walked around the table to shake each of their hands. "Gentlemen! I've been looking everywhere for you. How about we see if we can do a deal?" Before anybody could object, I grabbed an empty chair and sat down. Across the table, Wen and Singh remained impassive, while Lula and Zuma looked sheepishly down at the papers in front of them.

arrebataba a la gente su iniciativa y erosionaba su amor propio. Cualquier estrategia para reducir la pobreza intergeneracional debe centrarse en el trabajo, no en la asistencia social, no sólo porque el trabajo da independencia e ingresos sino también porque el trabajo aporta orden, estructura, dignidad y oportunidades de crecimiento a la vida de las personas.

She said Purdue looked at data and everything with their computers, and hand-picked targets like Lee County that were gold mines.

This is how conquest occurs: one plan is always larger than the other.

You must understand the language of your enemy.

Elizabeth was counting on Marco to keep cousin Mary occupied until after the board meeting was over. A piece of cheese might catch a mouse, but an afternoon alone with a muscular masseur would ensnare her cousin far more effectively. And afterwards, while Mary lay sated and sleeping upon a massage table, wiser heads could determine the company's future. There were times, Elizabeth thought, when success in business demanded utter ruthlessness.

It seemed he'd recently learned the value of playing up the difficulty of accomplishing whatever he was tasked with, the better to play the hero when he subsequently pulled it off. He was overusing the technique the way a child overuses a new word.

you can't legitimately criticize someone's tactics if you don't understand his objectives

In my unpleasant experience, unarmed against a knife, you've basically got four options. Your best bet is to run like hell, if you can. Next best is to do something immediately that prevents the attack from getting started. Third is to create distance so you can deploy a longer-range weapon. Fourth is to go berserk and hope not to get fatally cut going through and over your attacker.

would show that inside twenty-one feet against a knife, trying to get a gun out is typically a losing bet, especially if you're backing straight up rather than getting off the line.

Naomi, you think this is all an accident? It's a science. There are people out there who are experts at getting others to do tomorrow what was unthinkable today.

Sun Tsu: When strong, feign weakness. When weak, feign strength.

You're just like the politicians, Alex. You want something done but you won't let people do it right. You think you can pick up a turd from the clean end? It doesn't work that way.

You must think of neither victory nor of defeat, but only of cutting and killing your enemy.

He called you. You're the one who insists on carrying a phone." The moment it came out, he regretted it. When Delilah was pissed, there was no winning move. Your only option was to try to find a way not to play.

I was impressed. I had been taking care not to stand out or to otherwise become memorable, and he had spotted me anyway. He was well attuned to his environment, to the patterns that might at some point make the difference between winning and losing. Or living and dying.

You must think of neither victory nor of defeat, but only of cutting and killing your enemy. I

I hadn't expected her to follow this line of reasoning. I'm usually good at putting myself in the other person's shoes, anticipating his next move. But she had outplayed me on this one. Time to try to regain some initiative, give myself a second to think.