The truth is, as you know, people like us look at what's happening in the world, and then we project it forward. We think, 'If I know A and B, then I've got to know that C and D are coming,' and that's kind of the way it's been with my fiction.

Journalists couldn't do their jobs overseas without taking risks, and the same is true for diplomats and intelligence officers.

Europeans don't like to talk about intelligence, and they often pretend their countries don't spy.

We have a complicated intelligence relationship with France. We have a complicated intelligence relationship with other - with other allies.

I've always felt at home in America. Obviously, there's down sides to everywhere - the politics of America can be hard to take but it's not great here either. I really love the country's landscape and I've travelled it many times.

Let's take up the most important issues first. Let's take up the reauthorizations first; let's take up the appropriations bill first, not wait until four days beforehand - no one has mentioned anything, and, all of a sudden, somebody looks at their watch and says, 'Hey, in four days, the government is going to run out of money.'

And I'm not apolitical - I'm very specific in my politics. But a lot of the time it's nobody's business unless you're over at my house having dinner.

My job is to be skeptical: skeptical of people like Edward Snowden and skeptical of the U.S. government.