Robert Gates was U.S. secretary of defense and therefore my immediate boss for much of my time as supreme allied commander at NATO. A former director of the CIA and a career intelligence officer, he is brilliant, understated and dry-witted. When asked once about our ability to predict wars, he said, "Our record is consistent and perfect -- we never get it right."
Looking ahead 2018
Will there be a war on the Korean Peninsula in 2018?
50-50 chance of a Pacific nuclear bomb test with dangerous consequences
