Mark Esper Quotes

Frankly I'm a bit concerned when it comes to U.S.-China relations.

The U.S.-China relationship, of course, has elements of both cooperation and competition.

The biggest challenge is clearly China, in the years 2035 and beyond. I mean, the size of the country, its economy, and everything - they're - it is a big strategic competitor for the entire Department of Defense and country.

China remains too important for America's national security to risk the relationship on the emotions of the moment.... No government in the world would have tolerated having the main square of its capital occupied by tens of thousands of demonstrators.

The only things that matter in the world are Japan and China, Russia and Europe. Latin America doesn’t matter…. And … there’s nothing you can do about the Middle East.

If America and China collide, both will suffer.

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.

The U.S.-China relationship is one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world.

I do not see it as desirable for South Korea to take the back seat and watch discussions between the U.S. and China.

Mitt Romney had it right in 2012 when he told President Barack Obama that Russia was 'without question our No. 1 geopolitical foe.'

America needs an adult in the White House who knows how to deal with China.

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.

Geopolitical interests are behind the so-called war on drugs and terrorism.

I think the Chinese do have visions of being a great power. And I think it's legitimate. And I don't see that that's a danger to us.

I recognize the United States is a superpower. It has various interests. It has to balance various things.

Washington sees the various local and national conflicts in the Middle East as part of a battle for regional hegemony between the U.S. and Iran.

Diplomacy is not an end in itself if it does not advance U.S. interests.

Much of our national debate proceeds as if China and America were locked in a zero-sum game in which one's loss is precisely the other's gain.

No nation has friends only interests.

The United States and Russia probably do not have common aims and dreams, but they have common worries: Both Washington and Moscow are concerned about the rise of China and are threatened by the rise of radical Islam.

You know, in the WikiLeaks cables, the Chinese discovered that Kevin Rudd was urging the Americans to keep the military option open against them. This is hardly a friendly gesture.

The rise of China as a new power is another great challenge for the US. Our failure to properly handle Germany and Japan earlier in the 20th century cost us and the world dearly. We must not make this same mistake with China.

What Ottawa and Washington used to think about Turkey or Iran was not very important because we really didn't think much about either, but now what we think about them is extremely important - to ourselves and to many other peoples.

The threat to Russia isn't liberal Europe or America. It is nonliberal Islam and nonliberal China. Russia has to change. It can't be otherwise. It will take time. You have to be patient.

I don't share the view that China and the U.S. need to reach some kind of strategic accommodation to carve up the Asia-Pacific region - that is an arrogant proposition and deeply insulting to other countries in the region, including Japan and potentially also India and Indonesia.