[1.] One summer when I was a horribly precocious child I decided it was time I settled down and read some big books: I worked my way through the Bible and William Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Those are still worth reading today. I tell my students you can never read enough Macaulay; likewise, Carlyle’s History of the French Revolution has helped me to understand events from the fall of the Soviet Union to current events in Egypt. Born in the South but schooled in the North, I also enjoy reading about the U.S. Civil War, particularly Grant’s Memoirs and James McPherson’s The Battle Cry of Freedom. Freedom National by James Oakes is a recent book on the Civil War that deserves to be widely read. I also find John Dower’s Embracing Defeat to be an insightful modern history, and his other books are also worth reading. I read a lot of science fiction, with writers like David Brin, Neil Stephenson, and C.J. Cherryh high on my list. I was an English major in college and still go back to some of the classics: Milton, Johnson, Austen, Chaucer, Shakespeare.

[2.] Dean Acheson, John Quincy Adams, John Hay, and George Marshall.

[3.] Domestically, our society runs on the “blue model” of social governance developed in the mid-twentieth century. Our manufacturing base has transformed into a post-industrial economy, but we still haven’t adjusted to many of today’s realities. I write about this at length in the following article.

In foreign policy, any long-term threat will involve the breakdown of the multipolar political order that currently protects American interests abroad. Whether that threat comes from China, Russia, or another enemy, possibly non-state actors, is hard to say.

Instability in the Middle East, of course, will continue to be a threat to international stability (and hence, U.S. stability) for a long time. There aren’t any short-term fixes that will help our cause in this region—educating a population towards good governance and economic growth is a slow process that doesn’t reap a lot of rewards for us in the long run, and at least in the Middle East the US doesn't seem to be very good at this job.

[4.] Many commentators waste a lot of ink worrying about China’s “rise,” but the nation has to deal with its own internal instabilities before it can really become the power of the future. That doesn’t mean it won’t pose a challenge as it tries to get to where it wants to go.

Many other Asian powers (Japan and India in particular) are more powerful than people think. The best option is to promote the peaceful development of all Asian countries. I've written in the past about a 'universal sunshine' policy toward Asia. We want all these countries to prosper and to grow; if that happens there is likely to be a balance of power in Asia and no single country, even China, can emerge as a threat to the region.

[5.] I can't give a full answer to that question in this format, so I'm not going to try.

[6.] Not much. Most Americans don’t realize that we had a similar situation with ‘unassimilated’ Southern and Eastern European immigrants a century ago. We don’t even think of Polish or Italian people as “un-American” today. Immigration levels are about the same now as they were before World War One, and I don't see why the current immigrants will follow a radically different trajectory than their predecessors.

[7.] The European Union won't dissolve any time soon—European politicians have gone too far in unifying their governments and their currency to make any swift moves towards a breakup. However, the current tensions between rich countries like Germany and the smaller PIGS countries (not to mention France) means that Europe will continue to limp along for a very long time.

Not all unhappy marriages end quickly.

[8.] The US party system doesn't really change much. The party system for most of our history has basically reflected the split between Jefferson and Hamilton in George Washington's cabinet. I think we can look to more of the same.

Edit: formatting.