"We have to broaden our understanding. And let me tell you why—just beyond, you know, you got to speak the language if you’re going to read the message you just intercepted. It’s more—actually, more important than that because we have to guard against viewing the world exclusively through an American prism. We must not rely exclusively on an American or even Western lens in assessing foreign challenges and helping policymakers decide how to respond to challenges. Large parts of the world, and including some of those ones that I’ve mentioned already this afternoon, okay, do not share all of our ideals and values. Now, look; we cherish and live our own values, but we must know and appreciate those of others. Their perceptions and behaviors are driven by motivations and experiences that are sometimes very different from our own, and we have to understand that."
General Michael V. Hayden, Director of the CIA.
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