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The world has become so complex that the idea of a power in which everything comes together and can be controlled in a centralized way is now erroneous.

The exercise of power is determined by thousands of interactions between the world of the powerful and that of the powerless, all the more so because these worlds are never divided by a sharp line: everyone has a small part of himself in both.

Our power is not so much in us as through us.

I'm suggesting that, ironically, the secret to becoming a world 'hyperpower' is tolerance. If you look at history, you see great powers being very tolerant in their rise to global dominance.

When power is exercised exclusively at the centre, the result is rigidity of rules and alienation of the people subject to those rules.

The world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours.

Once you have power, you are inevitably surrounded by people who have their own agendas and will tell you whatever advances them.

The way the world is going, it's technology driven. And it isn't just driven by the old super powers, it's driven by the far east and new emerging economies.

A globalized world is by now a familiar fact of life. Building walls or moats may sound appealing, but the future belongs to those who tend to their people and then boldly engage the rest of the world, near and far.

Despite all of our efforts to control something, the world is much, much more powerful than us, and more deranged even than us.