So far as it depends on the course of this government, our relations of good will and friendship will be sedulously cultivated with all nations. — John Tyler
The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. — George Washington
Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all. — George Washington
Relations between States, as between individuals, must be regulated not by armed force, but in accordance with...truth, justice and vigorous and sincere co-operation. — Pope John XXIII
History and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. — George Washington
Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none. — Thomas Jefferson
Our national determination to keep free of foreign wars and foreign entanglements cannot prevent us from feeling deep concern when ideals and principles that we have cherished are challenged. — Franklin D. Roosevelt
We have the responsibility to ensure that our first impulse in foreign affairs is one of bipartisanship. — Richard Lugar
Foreign powers do not seem to appreciate the true character of our government. — James K. Polk
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence . . . the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake. — George Washington
Foreign policy will require a strategic agility that, whenever possible, gets ahead of problems, strengthens U.S. security and alliances, and promotes American interests and credibility. — Chuck Hagel
The secret of politics? Make a good treaty with Russia. — Otto von Bismarck
The spirit of seeking understanding through personal contact with people of other nations and other cultures deserves the respect and support of all. — Gerald R. Ford
A nation is defined not by its borders, but by its interests. — Tim Marshall
Sovereignty must not be used for inflicting harm on anyone, whether citizen or foreigner. — Ludwig von Mises
Every government has as much of a duty to avoid war as a ship's captain has to avoid a shipwreck. — Guy de Maupassant
Unity should be the cornerstone of relations — Haile Selassie
One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.
Foreign Affairs Quotes
The de facto censorship which leaves so many Americans functionally illiterate about the history of US foreign affairs may be all the more effective because it is not official, heavy-handed or conspiratorial, but woven artlessly into the fabric of education and media. No conspiracy is needed. — William Blum
If there is one lesson for U.S. foreign policy from the past 10 years, it is surely that military intervention can seem simple but is in fact a complex affair with the potential for unintended consequences. — Fareed Zakaria
The limitations imposed by democratic political practices makes it difficult to conduct our foreign affairs in the national interest. — Dean Acheson
The people who are meant to be in your life will always gravitate back towards you, no matter how far they wander.
The people [in the USA] are not very well informed. They certainly don`t know history. They certainly are not interested in foreign affairs very much, unless it comes right to their doorstep. They all learn history through wars. They learn geography through wars. — Bill Maher
Most vagabonds i knowed don't ever want to find the culprit that remains the object of their long relentless quest. The obsession's in the chasing and not the apprehending, the pursuit you see and never the arrest" - Tom Waits "Foreign Affairs — Tom Waits
On Foreign Secretary Robin Cook: If a man cannot keep a measly affair secret, what is he doing in charge of the Intelligence Service? — Frederick Forsyth
People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories and magic.
The very phrase 'foreign affairs' makes an Englishman convinced that I am about to treat of subjects with which he has no concern. — Benjamin Disraeli
Americans are inclined to see the world and foreign affairs in black and white. — Richard Kerry
Nixon had some large achievements in foreign affairs. They will be remembered. But a president probably gets remembered for one thing, and Watergate will head the Nixon list, I suspect. — Bob Woodward
To divine the course of world events, you'd do as well to probe the entrails of dead animals. Better still, ask your hairstylist. She will be at least as insightful and probably more entertaining a prophet than anyone you can read in Foreign Affairs or the op-ed page of the Washington Post. — Andrew Bacevich
Foreign Policy Quotes
Foreign influence is truly the Grecian horse to a republic. We cannot be too careful to exclude its influence. — Alexander Hamilton
The honor of a nation is its life. Deliberately to abandon it is to commit an act of political suicide. — Alexander Hamilton
You know, I've never believed, in anything, that you had to have role models who looked like you to do something. If I'd been waiting for a black, female, soviet specialist role model, I'd be still waiting. — Condoleezza Rice
Where there is love, there is no imposition.
Depopulation should be the highest priority of foreign policy towards the third world, because the US economy will require large and increasing amounts of minerals from abroad, especially from less developed countries — Henry A. Kissinger
Military men are just dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy. — Henry A. Kissinger
North Korea continues to play the crazed, powerful weakling to good effect. Its foreign policy consists of being suspicious of everyone except the Chinese, who provide 84% of the country’s imports and buy 85% of its exports. — Tim Marshall
Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
If you know a country's geography, you can understand and predict its foreign policy. — Napoleon Bonaparte
It doesn't matter who you vote for we get the same damn policies. We have this thing in Washington called the Uniparty. The Uniparty is owned by various corporate, foreign and pharmaceutical lobbyists. This has to go away!! — Douglas Macgregor
We Communists have got to string along with the capitalists for a while. We need their agriculture and their technology. But we are going to continue massive military programs. . . (soon) we will be in a position to return to a much more aggressive foreign policy designed to gain the upper-hand. — Leonid Brezhnev
We should cease to talk about vague and unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization. The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better. — George F. Kennan
International Relations Quotes
The world is now too small for anything but brotherhood. — A. Powell Davies
Educational exchange can turn nations into people, contributing as no other form of communication can to the humanizing of international relations — J. William Fulbright
We have no eternal allies, and we have not perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow. — Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
It is not happy people who are thankful. It is thankful people who are happy.
I encounter one example after another of how relative truth is. — Raoul Wallenberg
United States is a great Country and has its effective role on the international arena, so we have to boost our relations with it, in order to achieve peace and stability in our region and the world. — Ali A. Saleh
If China continues to rise, you better be very careful, because that will drive the United States stark raving crazy. — John Mearsheimer
Angry is just sad's bodyguard.
United States is a great Country and has its effective role on the international arena, so we have to boost our relations with it, in order to achieve peace and stability in our region and the world. — Bill Vaughan
According to the first image of international relations, the locus of the important causes of war is found in the nature and behavior of man. Wars result from selfishness, from misdirected aggressive impulses, from stupidity. — Kenneth Waltz
Every aspect of the world today - even politics and international relations - is affected by chemistry. — Linus Pauling
War gives the right to the conquerors to impose any condition they please upon the vanquished. — Julius Caesar
Diplomatic Relations Quotes
If the North Korean side shows no sincerity in solving the nuclear weapon, abduction and missile issues, then the likelihood of normalization of diplomatic relations is very slim. — Koichi Haraguchi
Foe means enemy. Now, will we have differences of opinion with the Russians? Yes. Will they get mad at us from time to time, and we get mad at them? That's part of the normal diplomatic relations. — Colin Powell
Divorce. A resumption of diplomatic relations and rectification of boundaries. — Ambrose Bierce
The flower doesn't dream of the bee. It blossoms and the bee comes.
Players have a great deal of flexibility when conducting diplomatic relations with their allies. — Michael K. Simpson
As has been pointed out with Libya, the debate over Libya, sometimes we allow diplomatic relations with imperfect regimes because progress can best be made through engagement instead of isolation. — Earl Blumenauer
I am for free commerce with all nations; political connection with none; and little or no diplomatic establishment — George Washington
Relativity applies to physics, not ethics.
The reason for having diplomatic relations is not to confer a compliment, but to secure a convenience. [On diplomatic recognition of the People's Republic of China] — Winston Churchill
My proposal to re-establish diplomatic relations - not necessarily friendly relations, but diplomatic relations - is a sensible, simple, and straightforward approach that will finally get us off dead center. — Cyrus Vance
Fifty years of isolating Cuba had failed to promote democracy, setting us back in Latin America. That's why we restored diplomatic relations, opened the door to travel and commerce, and positioned ourselves to improve the lives of the Cuban people. — Barack Obama
In terms of the nature of the continuation of the Cold War, which has gone on so long between Cuba and the United States, I applaud the president for aggressively trying to end it and I hope we will have not only full diplomatic relations, but that the trade embargo will end. — Bernie Sanders
American Foreign Policy Quotes
We need American foreign policy that tells the world very clearly that it is bad to be our enemy and good to be our friend. — Marco Rubio
Foreign aid is neither a failure nor a panacea. It is, instead, an important tool of American policy that can serve the interests of the United States and the world if wisely administered. — Lee H. Hamilton
I can think of no faster way to unite the American people behind George W. Bush than a terrorist attack on an American target overseas. And I believe George W. Bush will quickly unite the American people through his foreign policy. — Henry A. Kissinger
A true friend is the only person who never gets tired of listening to your own pointless dramas over and over again.
We shall listen, not lecture; learn, not threaten. We will enhance our safety by earning the respect of others and showing respect for them. In short, our foreign policy will rest on the traditional American values of restraint and empathy, not on military might. — Theodore C. Sorensen
The reason I made women's issues central to American foreign policy, was not because I was a feminist, but because we know that societies are more stable if women are politically and economically empowered. — Madeleine Albright
Our foreign policy has made a wreck of this planet. I'm always in Africa... And when I go to these places I see American policy written on the walls of oppression everywhere. — Harry Belafonte
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can throw the rascals out at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy. — Carroll Quigley
The emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union is not an objective of American foreign policy. And if they put Jews into gas chambers in the Soviet Union, it is not an American concern. Maybe a humanitarian concern. — Henry A. Kissinger
Asking Senator Fulbright's advice on foreign policy is like asking the Boston Strangler to massage your neck. — Spiro T. Agnew
Words summarize the American philosophy of life: Live and let live; Let's make a deal. 8 words summarize American foreign policy: We're better than you; Do it our way. — Gary North
Us Foreign Policy Quotes
There is absolutely no point in NATO. Its only purpose is to serve as a tool of US foreign policy. — Vladimir Putin
Well, the most important thing a president will be is commander-in-chief. And that requires having an understanding of the complex issues on foreign policy. Foreign policy presents us often with hard choices, not black or white choices. — Marco Rubio
But for us, in Syria, we have principles. We'll do anything to prevent the region from another crazy war. It's not only Syria. Because it will start in Syria. — Bashar al-Assad
Any time someone says "that's it, I'm leaving" I ask them whether they'd prefer to live under US domestic policy, or US foreign policy. As bad as things get inside an empire, they're usually worse in the protectorates. — Jamie Zawinski
Bush promised a foreign policy of humility and a domestic policy of compassion. He has given us a foreign policy of arrogance and a domestic policy that is cynical, myopic and cruel. — Joe Klein
In the US, we consider our foreign policy as something rooted in the protection of American ideals of democracy and human development. However, we often fail to see the damaging consequences, many of which may be unintended, on others - including Christians - living in other parts of the world. — Ed McBain
Abroad, our most important policy is to support our troops and continue forward-thinking foreign policy in the war on terror - keeping our enemies on the run and hitting them before they hit us. — Christopher Bond
The only concern which I have today is that we have a policy, a foreign policy, which enables us to avoid a catastrophe; which, if one understands it properly, is indescribable. — Erich Fromm
For too long, the U.S. has been operating upon the premise that American men and matériel should be capable of reaching and controlling all corners of the world. This was a bully’s universe. — Ilana Mercer
Diplomacy Quotes
Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions. — Winston Churchill
Diplomacy without military might is like music without instruments. — Frederick the Great
Our dependence on foreign energy sources is our Achilles heel, not just in the realm of diplomacy, but in terms of our future as the world's economic leader. — Judy Biggert
The drums of a World War are beating. Beware of the military-industrial complex and the warmongers who exploit tragedy to advocate for more war. A global war would lead to immeasurable suffering. Diplomacy, conversation between leaders is the way out. — Lex Fridman
Nice words are free, so choose ones that please another’s ears. — Vietnamese Proverbs
I will not agree to go to war in the Donbass. I know there are a lot of hotheads, especially those who hold rallies and say, 'Let's go fight and win it all back!' But at what price? What is the cost? It's another story of lives and land. And I won't do it. — Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgment. — Mario Puzo
On upholding openness and cooperation — Xi Jinping
Foreign Countries Quotes
The basic tenet of black consciousness is that the black man must reject all value systems that seek to make him a foreigner in the country of his birth and reduce his basic human dignity. — Steven Biko
The result of neo-colonialism is that foreign capital is used for the exploitation rather than for the development of the less developed parts of the world. Investment under neo-colonialism increases rather than decreases the gap between the rich and poor countries of the world. — Kwame Nkrumah
After traveling through fourteen foreign countries and appearing before all the royalty and nobility I have only one wish today. That is that when my eyes are closed in death that they will bury me back in that quiet little farm land where I was born. — Annie Oakley
Our children should be taught to beware of everything foreign and not to disclose any state or party secrets to foreigners... for foreigners are eyes for their countries, and some of them are counterrevolutionary instruments [in the hands of imperialism]. — Saddam Hussein
Icelanders are grateful to meet foreigners who have heard of their country. And even more grateful to hear someone say it deserves better. — Halldór Laxness
Javier Milei has legalised the use of all foreign currencies in Argentina, including Bitcoin. Not every country has to make Bitcoin legal tender; each country will have their own unique path. All roads lead to Bitcoin. — Samson Mow
We should teach the foreigners and colonialists that Somalia cannot be led by other people and that the traitors who fled the country will never lead Somalia. — Siad Barre
We must open our eyes and see that modern civilization has become so complex and the lives of civilized men so interwoven with thelives of other men in other countries as to make it impossible to be in this world and out of it. — Franklin D. Roosevelt
Foreign Trade Quotes
No extension of foreign trade will immediately increase the amount of value in a country, although it will very powerfully contribute to increase the mass of commodities and therefore the sum of enjoyments. — David Ricardo
What generates war is the economic philosophy of nationalism: embargoes, trade and foreign exchange controls, monetary devaluation, etc. The philosophy of protectionism is a philosophy of war. — Ludwig von Mises
So prominent was the Jewish role in the foreign commerce of Europe that those nations that received the Jews gained and the countries that excluded them lost in the volume of international trade. — Will Durant
Our two-party system is a fraud, a sham, a delusion. On foreign policy, trade, immigration, Big Government, we have one-party government, one party press; and conservatives are being played for suckers. — Pat Buchanan
In response to a suggestion that total free trade would end in cheaper foreign products flooding the market and causing unemployment. — Milton Friedman
That foreign trade should be fair rather than free. — Lyn Nofziger
Unless the trade deficit shrinks, the combination of the trade deficit and the interest and dividend payments to foreigners will grow ever more rapidly. — Martin Feldstein
Other powers will continue to enjoy an equal right to trade in and develop the natural resources of the occupied territory, for the economic development of which the investment of foreign capital is very desirable. — Koki Hirota
Conflicting commercial regulations of the different States shackled and diminished both foreign and domestic trade; hence the power to regulate commerce was conferred. — Robert Toombs
I expect to see trade wars, foreign policy disasters, a few race riots, a decrease in personal liberty, higher taxes, higher inflation and probably, economic collapse. The silver lining is, secession will probably become more feasible. — Charley Reese
How could a state be governed, or protected in its foreign relations if every individual remained free to obey or not to obey the law according to his private opinion. — Thomas Hobbes
If I were a dictator, religion and state would be separate. I swear by my religion. I will die for it. But it is my personal affair. The state has nothing to do with it. The state would look after your secular welfare, health, communications, foreign relations, currency and so on, but not your or my religion. That is everybody's personal concern! — Mahatma Gandhi
With the simple suspension of gold redeemability, governments’ war efforts were no longer limited to the money that they had in their own treasuries, but extended virtually to the entire wealth of the population. For as long as the government could print more money and have that money accepted by its citizens and foreigners, it could keep financing the war. Previously, under a monetary system where gold as money was in the hands of the people, government only had its own treasuries to sustain its war effort, along with any taxation or bond issues to finance the war. This made conflict limited, and lay at the heart of the relatively long periods of peace experienced around the world before the twentieth century. — Saifedean Ammous
No matter to what degree China opens up to the outside world and admits foreign capital, its relative magnitude will be small and it can't affect our system of socialist public ownership of the means of production. — Deng Xiaoping
The Council on Foreign Relations is the American branch of a society which originated in England ... [and] ... believes national boundaries should be obliterated and one-world rule established. — Carroll Quigley
If the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) raises the hackles of the conspiracy theorists, the Bilderberg meetings must induce apocalyptic visions of omnipotent international bankers plotting with unscrupulous government officials to impose cunning schemes on an ignorant and unsuspecting world. — David Rockefeller
Having a comic in the White House will assure stability in foreign relations. The world will continue to respond to foreign initiatives by saying, 'You must be joking.' — Pat Paulsen
To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is their next-door neighbor, I would say 'Cast down your bucket where you are.' — Booker T. Washington
The truth is the Federal Reserve Board has usurped the Government of the United States. It controls everything here and it controls all our foreign relations. It makes and breaks government at will. — Louis Thomas McFadden
The one thing man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-being granted to them by a World Government, a New World Order. — Henry A. Kissinger
In a world of increasing interdependence, energy security will depend much on how countries manage their relations with one another. That is why energy security will be one of the main challenges of foreign policy in the years ahead. Oil and gas have always been political commodities. — Daniel Yergin
Relations between the United States and other countries, and our role as a global leader, are advanced by our willingness to help other countries in need. Foreign aid is essential to protecting U.S. interests around the world, and it is also a moral responsibility of the wealthiest, most powerful nation. — Patrick Leahy
One of the most important secret societies of the 20th century is called the Round Table. It is based in Britain with branches across the world. It is the Round Table that ultimately orchestrates the network of the Bilderberg Group, Council on Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission and the Royal Institute of International Affairs. — David Icke
The question shouldn't be what we ought to do, but what we can do. — Rory Stewart
I know that historically our foundation has had great relations with all the administrations.[Bill] Clinton administration did a lot of outreach. The greatest rise in U.S. foreign aid was under the [George] Bush administration, that's where we got the AIDS initiative, which is called PEPFAR. — Bill Gates
Foreign policy can mean several things, not only foreign policy in the narrow sense. It can cover foreign policy, relations with the developing world, and enlargement as well. — Romano Prodi
I want to make it clear publicly that I expect more candor from this Administration during the next four years, particularly with members on the Foreign Relations Committee so that we can maintain a bipartisan foreign policy. — George Voinovich
Scholars and historians have dubbed the last 100 years the American Century, and I think there can be little doubt that the Council on Foreign Relations helped to make it so. — Spencer Abraham
When you look at where the Democratic field is going relative to foreign policy, they are increasingly moving away from a policy of pre-emptive self-defense that the president has adopted since September 11. — Ed Gillespie
If a country is an attractive place for foreigners to invest their funds, then that country will have a relatively high exchange rate. If it's an unattractive place, it will have a relatively low exchange rate. Those are the fundamentals that determine the exchange rate in a floating exchange rate system. — Milton Friedman
I see little hope for a peaceful world until men are excluded from the realm of foreign policy altogether and all decisions concerning international relations are reserved for women, preferably married ones. — W. H. Auden
In international relations, in foreign policy, a great deal has to do with historical circumstances, a great deal has to do with the sense and perception of people. — Salman Khurshid
Peace and commerce with foreign nations could be more effectually and cheaply cultivated by a common agent; therefore they gave the Federal Government the sole management of our relations with foreign governments. — Robert Toombs
The duty of holding a Neutral conduct may be inferred, without any thing more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of Peace and amity toward other Nations. — George Washington
A country that demands moral perfection in its foreign policy will achieve neither perfection nor security. — Henry A. Kissinger
...foreign policy is a matter of costs and benefits, not theology. — Fareed Zakaria
All issues - purchasing and selling of currency - are related to the regulation of the national currency market. However, it is still difficult to say what will be the reaction of the Central Bank and if it would lead to increasing the gold and foreign currency reserves. — Vladimir Putin
I am ... willing to make it clear that American foreign policy must uphold the sanctity of international treaties. That is the cornerstone on which all relations between nations must rest. — Franklin D. Roosevelt
I studied political science and international relations and had the intention of becoming a journalist or work in foreign affairs. I had no intention of making a film. — Philippe Falardeau
The ultimate aim of the CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) is to create a one-world socialist system, and to make the U.S. an official part of it. — Dan Smoot
At present, the United States, with over 700 foreign military bases, navies in every ocean, a programme to militarise space, and drone bases planned for all regions of the world, is increasingly perceived in relation to its hard power diplomacy, a threat to political independence and stability for many countries. — Richard A. Falk
Our attitude toward our own culture has recently been characterized by two qualities, braggadocio and petulance. Braggadocio -- empty boasting of American power, American virtue, American know-how -- has dominated our foreign relations now for some decades. Here at home -- within the family, so to speak -- our attitude to our culture expresses a superficially different spirit, the spirit of petulance. Never before, perhaps, has a culture been so fragmented into groups, each full of its own virtue, each annoyed and irritated at the others. — Daniel J. Boorstin
Friends, both the imaginary ones you build for yourself out of phrases taken from a living writer, or real ones from college, and relatives, despite all the waste of ceremony and fakery and the fact that out of an hour of conversation you may have only five minutes in which the old entente reappears, are the only real means for foreign ideas to enter your brain. — Nicholson Baker
I think that it's very important to have the United States' engagement in many situations we have around the world, be it in Syria, be it in the African context. The United States represents an important set of values, human rights, values related to freedom, to democracy. And so the foreign policy engagement of the United States is a very important guarantee that those values can be properly pursued. — Antonio Guterres
It should never be the goal of U.S. foreign policy towards any country to have a - quote, unquote - "good relation." Then what? What do we get out of that? We get - Trump is helping the approval ratings amongst Russians. How does that advance American national security interests? — Michael McFaul
The left, led by the news media, has been telling us practically from the day that Donald Trump announced his candidacy that he would be a complete disaster, particularly in foreign affairs and foreign relations around the world, and even more particularly in the Middle East. And, instead, we see the rave reception that President Trump is getting everywhere he is going, the profound respect. — Rush Limbaugh
I'm sure that Donald Trump's praise would lead to good relations with Vladimir Putin. But I think that's not what the American people expect from our foreign policy. — Philip Gordon
I would recommend any American who wants to understand where the government is going in the next four years of George W. Bush presidency to get a copy of her confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It's a road map, and it's pretty frightening testimony. Their definition of where democracy should go in the Middle East doesn't include Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan; it only includes Iraq, Iran, and Syria. — Seymour Hersh
I think people like me are in a relatively privileged position because we have to some extent chosen to live in foreign places. I would always make the distinction between those who are exiles in terms of being thrown out of the place they want to be, and others who are exiles in terms of going toward a place they would rather be. — Pico Iyer
Foreigners cannot bring freedom, cannot bring democracy, because this is related to the culture, to the different factors that affect or influence that society. You cannot bring it, you cannot import it. — Bashar al-Assad
Once you begin to talk about wealth inequality, especially as it relates to corporations and big banks, or engage in an indictment of U.S. foreign policy, you are really getting at the center of a society that is very fearful of that kind of critique. — Cornel West
The question that we, as a society, have to ask is, are our collective rights worth a small relative advantage in our ability to spy on other countries and foreign citizens? I have my opinion about that, but we all collectively have to come to our opinion about it. — Edward Snowden
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