Sometimes you have regimes that you have to cut deals with because priority one is the war on terror.

This is an important book, the critic assumes, because it deals with war. This is an insignificant book because it deals with the feelings of women in a drawing-room.

A lot of their deals are like that. The last thing they would have wanted was a bidding war over Russell.

The most idealistic group of people in Israel are being treated like common criminals.

Four years ago, when the SCO was formed, official Washington pooh-poohed it and declared it was no cause for concern. Now they're proven wrong.

[Freed says that the US has its own interests in the region, which could be commensurate with Russian interests. For instance, the Deputy Secretary pointed out] the fight against Islamic extremism and drug trade. ... The interests of the USA in the Central Asia are classical geo-politics, where the bets are high. Beside the oil aspect, which is also a concern of Russia, China and India, the Central Asian countries border with Iran and Pakistan, where there is a growth of anti-American sentiments. The efforts of Rice to reinforce American interests should be coming from the idea that the US policy is a two-way street. We have to hear, and not only to lecture: to give, and not only to demand.