How can one be a statesman amid reduced American influence in a semi-anarchic world?
Prime Minister Erdogan knows he must partially solve the Kurdish problem at home to gain leverage in the region.
To an extent, the Arab world is starting history all over again.
Periods of relative peace have almost always been the product of hegemony -- which is currently on the wane in geopolitics.
Twenty-first century geopolitics demand people with a 19th century sense of the world.
Libya's relatively short history as a strong state is likely over.
Given their geographical circumstances, Israelis can be forgiven for avoiding idealism.
By setting the terms for political reality, Machiavelli helps lay the foundation for geopolitics.
Iraq may not in any case have been winnable, but it need not have turned out to be quite the disaster it was.
Nigeria attests to the triumph of naked power and geography over the realm of ideas.