pleased to have bruce riedel back at this table. welcome. >> pleasure to be here. >> rose: i assume you like the idea of "eloquent gem of historical writing" because you sat down and said to me, "this is the most fun i've had." what was it about the experience that so resonated with you? >> the kennedy administration. woe call it camelot. it really was something special. john f. kennedy was a particularly gifted decision-maker as president. you know, we're talking a lot about character of a president because we're in our presidential campaign season. this is a man who demonstrated unusual character in the white house. >> rose: what do you mean by character? >> he faced some of the hardest decisions any president in american history has faced. the book is about one of those, the chinese invasion of india, which comes simultaneously with the soviet adventure in cuba, the cuba missile crisis. he handled two global crises simultaneously and showed unusual depth in thinking about the problem and thinking it through, not necessarily doing

. >> rose: bruce riedel served in the central intelligence agency for 30 years.served four presidents as a senior adviser on asia and the middle east. his new book is called "jfk's forgotten crisis." >> the kennedy administration, we call it camelot. it really was something special. john f. kennedy was a particularly gifted decision maker as president. you know, we're talking a lot about character of a president because we're in our presidential campaign season. this is a man who demonstrated unusual character in the white house. >> rose: explain the crews to us. >> the cries is simple-- china and india have the longest disputed border in the world. it remains the longest disputed border in the world. they also have an argument oaf tibet. china regards tibet as part of historic china. india regards tibet as part of its cultural sphere, at least, and has supported the idea of autonomy for tibet for a long time. in 19. >>>, mao decide he had, had enough of it, he was going to teach the indians a lesson. >> rose: was there a motivating reason to do that, other than

the director of the brookings institute intelligence project -- bruce riedel.d for presidents and is the author of "jfk: forgotten crisis." we spoke about politics in the middle east and fighting islamic state. bruce: everybody agrees isil is a problem but it is problem , number two or number three. we need to successfully persuade them that this is problem number one and something they should focus on. it is easy to say and very hard to do. john: even the west, only one country, france, would say isil is its number foreign policy one problem. right? it is not exactly clear that isis is a bigger problem than russia. bruce: a lot of conflicting priorities, even in the middle east. iran and its nuclear deal is priority number one. trying to keep stability from -- in saudi arabia, priority number one. oil prices down to $35 a barrel, the kingdom of saudi arabia cannot sustain the way of life they have lived for the last 25 years. they will have stability problems. egypt, huge stability problems. isis, isil is a problem. but, is it really problem number one for all

charlie: bruce riedel is here.rs and was also national security advisor to four presidents. his new book is called "jfk's forgotten crisis." the financial times calls it a minor gem of elegant history writing. i'm pleased to have him back at this table. welcome. i assume you love the idea of

charlie: bruce riedel is here. he served in the cia for 30 years and was also national security advisor to four presidents. his new book is called "jfk's forgotten crisis." the financial times calls it a minor gem of elegant history writing. i'm pleased to have him back at this table. welcome. i assume you love the idea of an elegant gem of historical writing. you said to me, this is the most fun i've had. what was it about the experience that resonated with you? bruce: the kennedy administration. we call it camelot. it really was something special. john f. kennedy was a particularly gifted decision-maker as residents. -- president. we're talking a lot about character of a president because we are in our presidential campaign season. this is a man who demonstrated unusual character in the white house. charlie: what you mean by character? bruce: he faced some of the hardest decisions any president in american history has faced. the book is about one of those, india,nese invasion of which comes simultaneously with th