international relations quotes

I used to wish there was a useful term for those of us who thought American power should be used to remove psychopathic dictators.

The Oslo Accords in 1993 determined that the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are a single territorial entity which cannot be divided. Immediately, the United States and Israel set about separating the two and making sure that they would not be united.

In Romania, American forces have found a devoted NATO ally.

In 1963, the U.N. Security Council declared a voluntary arms embargo on South Africa. That was extended to a mandatory embargo in 1977. And that was followed by economic sanctions and other measures – sometimes officials, countries, cities, towns – some organized by popular movements.

The target of preventive war must have several characteristics. It must be virtually defenceless; it must be important enough to be worth the trouble; it must be possible to portray it as the ultimate evil and an imminent threat to our survival.

The United States supports a strong, united Ukraine with productive and peaceful relationships with both the East and the West, with both Russia and Europe.

A war with Pakistan would be an utter disaster.

The governments of the present day have to deal not merely with other governments, with emperors, kings and ministers, but also with the secret societies which have everywhere their unscrupulous agents, and can at the last moment upset all the governments‘ plans.

Everybody has forgotten that Russia helped start the Second World War.

Wars are, of course, as a rule to be avoided; but they are far better than certain kinds of peace.

NATO’s essentially run by the United States.

We live in an inter-dependent world. An isolated India is not in our interest.

It’s a near miracle that nuclear war has so far been avoided.

Other than being crazy enough to press a button, there is nothing that Putin can do militarily to fundamentally alter American interests.

In February 2004, the two traditional torturers of Haiti – France and the United States – combined to back a military coup and send President Aristide off to Africa. The U.S. denies him permission to return to the entire region.

The only defensible war is a war of defense.

I don’t see any possibility of Britain and the U.S. allowing a sovereign independent Iraq; that’s almost inconceivable.

The United States prefers that Iraq meet its obligations voluntarily, yet we are prepared for the alternative.

It is my view that we cannot conduct foreign policy at the extremes.

As far as U.S. intelligence knows, Iran is developing nuclear capacities, but they don’t know if they are trying to develop nuclear weapons or not. Chances are they’re developing what’s called ‚nuclear capability,‘ which many states have. That is the ability to have nuclear weapons if they decide to do it. That’s not a crime.

The U.N. charter bars the threat of force.

Israel is a pretty crazy state.

While the Chinese people, as a rule, are good people, my business dealings with Communist Chinese officials have left me disturbed and concerned about the rise of the Chinese Empire.

Although I don’t like the way the Chinese do business, I continue to do business in China. I have to. They’re the next world power.

Nowhere is it written that there must be conflict between the United States and China.

I have spoken to Chinese leaders occasionally on human rights, but I’ve always done it in private.

The United States is a violent military state. It’s been involved in military action all over the place.

I believe mutual respect for one another and cooperation should be the basis for relationships with foreign nations.

Russia isn’t going to start a war. They can’t afford it. I think Mr. Putin can be dealt with if we stop screaming at him. You can work with the guy. You just have to know who he is.

As a nuclear power – as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon – the United States has a moral responsibility to act.

The U.S. and its allies will do anything they can to prevent authentic democracy in the Arab world.

The idea that putting Americans ‚first‘ requires a withdrawal from the world is simply wrongheaded because a retreat would achieve exactly the opposite for our citizens.

Japan is an important ally of ours. Japan and the United States of the Western industrialized capacity, 60 percent of the GNP, two countries. That’s a statement in and of itself.

There are nuclear-weapons-free zones in several parts of the world already, except that they’re not implemented fully, because the U.S. won’t allow it.

Egypt is the second-largest recipient over a long period of U.S. military and economic aid. Israel is first.

I think it is important for Europe to understand that even though I am president and George Bush is not president, Al Qaeda is still a threat.

More understand China, then more people will have interest in China and more people will come to China to visit us because I am a tourist ambassador.

For somebody who loves foreign policy, being Secretary is the best job in the world – but it doesn’t happen twice.

I’ve known and continue to know every one of these major world leaders by their first names, and I have access to them.

People are finding it harder and harder to relate to foreign policy.

Saudi Arabia has allowed training on its soil of American forces.

A very large majority of the U.S. population is in favor of establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba and has been for a long time with some fluctuations. And even part of the business world is in favor of it, too. But the government won’t allow it.

The Bush Administration’s failure to be consistently involved in helping Israel achieve peace with the Palestinians has been both wrong for our friendship with Israel, as well as badly damaging to our standing in the Arab world.

This was not an act of terrorism, but it was an act of war.

Unlike Europe, China can’t be intimidated. Europe backs down if the United States looks at it the wrong way. But China, they’ve been there for 3,000 years and are paying no attention to the barbarians and don’t see any need to.

We prefer world law in the age of self-determination to world war in the age of mass extermination.

NATO has been a thread throughout my life.

No nation should threaten its neighbors by massing troops along the border.

It makes sense for Japan to pursue a more independent role in the world, following Latin America and others in freeing itself from U.S. domination.

International summits and organisations like WTO take decisions, which will bind us, and if we are not present in such summits, we may be hurt by the decisions taken.

I have always seen the United States as a force of good. And I have learned that there is the idealistic part about what we can do at the U.N. and there is a doable part. And I have learned what is more doable.

When George W. Bush came into office, North Korea had maybe one nuclear weapon and verifiably wasn’t producing any more.

Putin sought to keep Ukraine weak through corruption.

Unconditional war can no longer lead to unconditional victory. It can no longer serve to settle disputes… can no longer be of concern to great powers alone.

After 2014, we will support a unified Afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future.

We can not play innocents abroad in a world that is not innocent.

The greatest security for Israel is to create new Egypts.

China and the U.S. need each other very badly. Yes, we should argue about some things, but it’s not an ‚us versus them,‘ it’s an ‚us and them‘ type scenario.

It cannot be too often stressed that Israel had no credible pretext for its 2008-9 attack on Gaza, with full U.S. support and illegally using U.S. weapons.

A lot of people think international relations is like a game of chess. But it’s not a game of chess, where people sit quietly, thinking out their strategy, taking their time between moves. It’s more like a game of billiards, with a bunch of balls clustered together.