Robert M. Gates Quotes

At the end of the Cold War, the prevailing view in Washington was that the U.S. was strong, and Russia was weak and did not count in a unipolar world. We disregarded Russia's opposition to NATO expansion, the Iraq War, and the U.S.-led military intervention in Serbia for the independence of Kosovo.

I think Russia is dangerous, not a superpower. I know what the president is trying to say. I worked for him for five years, not just two.He doesn't want us to overreact. He doesn't want to go back to the Cold War and some superpower competition. But my own view, and I think General Mattis stated something similar today, is that Russia is a challenge for the United States. It is a threat to some of our allies.

Russia is a difficult country to deal with, but I think that American policy on Russia has been foolish in the extreme.

The United States is the most powerful nation on Earth and it just can't walk away from the Middle East and central Asia and the Horn of Africa.

With the exception of China, and perhaps Turkey, no country in the world matters as much to the United States as Mexico.

It's essential for the U.S. and Europe to prevent Putin from going farther and reversing the hard-won independence of former Soviet republics.

Many in China find it perplexing that the U.S. and Russian perceptions are still so heavily influenced by the Cold War.

The US is a difficult partner, but an indispensable one. Everyone who have had to do with US politicians and diplomats knows they aren't easy to deal with. That is because of their immense sense of power. But an alliance with the US is absolutely necessary because of our relations with, on the one hand, Germany and France, and, on the other, Russia.

For the 30 years I have been involved with U. S. national security, our policy has been shaped by the assumption that we could shape other countries’ policies throughout the world. This has always been a bit of a myth.

Nothing guides Russian policy so much as a desire for friendship with the United States.

Both Russia and the United States are struggling to define their proper roles in the world.

The Syrian Intervention was aimed not only at strengthening Assad's position but at forcing the United States to deal with Moscow on a more even footing.

The potential for regional conflict in the absence of an internationally active America is real.

What frustrates U.S. officials is that China sometimes seems more comfortable accommodating a strong United States, as it did in past decades, than partnering with an America that's less dominant.

Obama's 'reset' with Russia and 'pivot' to Asia never materialized.

America had Russia wrapped around it little pinky through the whole '90s. We did everything you told us. And we were eager to do more and more. The whole nation - Russian nation was like, 'Tell us what else we can do to please you. We want to be like you. We love you.' And then in 1999, bam. You bomb Yugoslavia. And that was the end of it.

I'm very concerned about the countries bordering Russia. But let's stay off that stuff.

The world order and American actions in the world have deep wiring.

There are many reasons why the Russians prefer Donald Trump.I think, in the first instance, they wanted to tear down Secretary Clinton. They, I think, despised her remarks about the flawed 2011 elections in Russia. They feared that she would be very tough on Russia in terms of sanctions.

I don't worry about superpower confrontation. You know, I lived through the Cold War days, and where everybody was worried about a Soviet Union armed to the teeth. I think we're going to get along fine with Russia, and I don't see them as internationally ambitious.

Our president seems determined to do anything he can with the Russians and the Russians hate - but a report and hates us. He is malevolent and he is as close to pure evil as I can find. He's also brilliant. I don't understand what any American would want an alliance with Russia. We should be strengthening our alliance with democracies instead of trashing nato we should be building it up much more strongly.

I don't think Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump really have friends. But Trump has openly admired Putin for many years, with no reservations. He even seems to idolize him. Neither his cabinet appointees nor the civil servants in the Pentagon and the State Department feel the same way, however, so we don't know what this admiration will bring.

I think the war in the Mideast, how we got into it and how we're going to address the current problems, are issues that every American should be concerned about.

I don't believe that Russia's a threat for Europe. I think that's a big scam.

Think about it: Iran, Cuba, Venezuela - these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us.