“I would just tell you that, going back to a declaratory policy of national leaders, when a national leader says, ‘I will do A, B, or C,’ it’s worthwhile believing them—that’s my read of history,” said Milley. “When foreign heads of state make declaratory policy, and it’s publicly stated and then repeated several different times, it is in people’s interest to believe them. The old saying is ‘Great powers don’t bluff.’ Typically speaking, these guys do not bluff, and they say what they mean.”
