All officers of the Intelligence Community, and especially its most senior officer, must conduct themselves in a manner that earns and retains the public trust. The American people are uncomfortable with government activities that do not take place in the open, subject to public scrutiny and review. Dennis C. Blair Read Quote
Southeast Asia is an area in which there is a form of Islam which is both devout and progressive, and therefore to be supported. It’s an area in which I see a congruence of American interests and local interests: to have tolerant societies and become more prosperous. Dennis C. Blair Read Quote
As I’ve said many times and publicly, a war between China and Taiwan that involves the United States is a lose-lose-lose. Dennis C. Blair Read Quote
I know it sounds Pollyannish and ‘Kumbaya’-like, but I find that the more that you expose Americans to the diversity of what’s going on in China and vice versa, the more people find that there is this broad middle path. And so I’m a strong advocate of intense visits and dialogue back and forth. Dennis C. Blair Read Quote
As is often the case when things are complicated, extreme views have superficial appeal. On the one extreme, some see China as an inevitable enemy that must be contained; on the other hand, there are those who see China as a slowly developing democracy that can be embraced. Dennis C. Blair Read Quote
There’s sort of a theory that’s going around in the China-watching community about a perfect storm coming up with the 2008 Olympics, a U.S. election and a Taiwanese election, some sort of mutually reinforcing explosion and crisis. Dennis C. Blair Read Quote
I find when you talk with the Chinese on most subjects, they are very practical. Dennis C. Blair Read Quote
You can’t always get someone where you want to with just sticks. There have to be some carrots, there have to be some other shaping things. Dennis C. Blair Read Quote
The information gained from these techniques was valuable in some instances, but there is no way of knowing whether the same information could have been obtained through other means. Dennis C. Blair Read Quote
My experience is the White House is not a very good place to coordinate intelligence, much less to integrate it. Dennis C. Blair Read Quote
