Quotes by Cliff Kupchan

“The second lesson is that we cant rely on the Europeans. We can only hope on a 50 per cent recovery of that rift. So that leaves us with constructing issue-based coalitions of the willing as the key component of future US foreign policy.”

“Youd be picking a … fight, though. Iran is a sophisticated country, with a very sophisticated leadership. It has a range of retaliatory options that are extremely unpleasant.”

“They know theyre sitting on a ton of gas and theyre dying to develop it. They cant do it by themselves, and sanctions that prevent them from doing it would hurt Iran.”

“The Russians want to stay in very good graces, because theres a big pay day for them.”

“Im not convinced that talks would lead anywhere. (But) in the short to medium term, they would take the pressure out of the system thats driving oil prices.”