113 Quotes by David Ignatius

A change of strategy suggests there is a strategy. I don’t see a strategy that deals with – that concerns with dealing wit with ISIL overall. There is some sort of strategy for dealing with it in Iraq. I’m not sure there is one in Syria. And Libya is another problem altogether.

Showing emotion was bad. Unless it was fake, then it was okay.

Fear brings out the best in some people and the worst in others. It's a test of character, for individuals and nations.

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.

The ISI is above all a paramilitary organization. It doesn't do all that much collection of intelligence. It's not a very good spy agency, but it's good at running covert action.

President Obama was right to ban torture, but the public must understand that this decision carries a potential cost in lost information. That's what makes it a moral choice.

During an economic crisis, what matters is that the government keeps its foot on the accelerator.

If you want better behavior from bankers, then make their financial incentives more like those in the hedge-fund world - where managers have 'skin in the game,' and their net worth is tied to their long-term performance.

If you walk into the front hallway of the CIA, you will see, on your left, a statue of William 'Wild Bill' Donovan. Bill Donovan was the person who created the OSS, the Office of Strategic Services, which was America's spy agency during World War II and then kind of morphed into what's now the CIA.