We weren’t that central to these events.
We don’t know how this is going to turn out, so let’s be very careful whether it’s a triumph or a massive setback. We just don’t know.
In linguistics, these are called hedge words or phrases. They usually indicate that the speaker does not have confidence in what they are saying. Other examples are actually and basically.
“They usually indicate that the speaker does not have confidence in what they are saying.”
The difference between Zbig and Ferguson is that Ferguson took an unequivocal stand. He stated there’s a high likelihood this will turn out badly, and explained clearly the reasons why. “We just don’t know” is a much more weasel-worded way of saying the same thing. Of course, we cannot be CERTAIN of anything. But experts surely ought to be in a position to state which outcomes are more likely than others. The appropriate rebuttal to Ferguson would have been to explain why his account of why things could turn out badly was wrong. This Zbig did not do.
What’s surprising is that Ferguson actually had given Zbig a left-handed compliment—pointing out that Clinton and other foreign policy advisors surrounding Obama were 2nd and 3rd rate compared to Zbig and Kissinger. He didn’t mean he agreed with everything they said—only that they had enough expertise and intelligence to make reasoned decisions. Perhaps this Zbig interview indicates Ferguson was wrong in that assessment. So much for giving Zbig the benefit of the doubt.