Quotes from Stephen Kinzer

Because Iranians have had to fight so long and painfully for political freedom, they have a deep appreciation for its value - perhaps deeper than many in the West who take their electoral rights for granted.

Want to depose the government of a poor country with resources? Want to bash Muslims? Want to build support for American military interventions around the world? Want to undermine governments that are raising their people up from poverty because they don't conform to the tastes of Upper West Side intellectuals? Use human rights as your excuse!

Rebels in Darfur have learned the value of mobilizing western human rights groups to prolong wars, and this lesson is working gloriously for them.

The idea that Arabia is best run by Arabs is no more palatable to Western leaders today than it was to Napoleon or Churchill.

Western powers remain imprisoned by the idea that the world is a dangerous place, that it needs to be managed, and that they are called upon to do the managing.

My general view is the delivery of news is changing in dramatic ways, and will continue to change into ways we can't even predict.

Successive American presidents have turned a blind eye to piles of evidence that Saudi money is being used to foment holy war against America.

Relationships based on deals between leaders or ruling elites tend to collapse amid popular anger.

When Prime Minister Erdogan came to Washington in 2009, he sounded almost like the ambassador from Iran.

After installing friendly leaders in Iran and Guatemala, the United States lost interest in promoting democracy in either country.

Rwanda has emerged from the devastation of genocide and become more secure and prosperous than anyone had a right to expect.

No one will presumably ever be able to prove or disprove such fundamental religious principles as the existence of God.

Mayors of New York are almost automatically national figures.

Few living figures could contribute as much as Castro to our understanding of the second half of the 20th century.

Guatemala's ornate presidential palace, once a terrifying fortress whose every corridor was patrolled by heavily armed soldiers in berets and camouflage uniforms, is now a normal public building where ordinary citizens enter without fear.

For decades, Turkey was widely viewed as a reliable NATO ally: prickly at times, but safely in America's corner.

A decision by Germany's highest court that banned the display of crosses or crucifixes in classrooms has sparked widespread outrage and protest.

The United States is holding hundreds of suspected terrorists in prisons at Guantanamo and elsewhere. Many are locked up indefinitely. They have not been tried or even charged with any crime.

Some major American publishing houses still seek work by foreign writers.

As long as Iran believes that its security will be increased by having a nuclear program, it's going to pursue its program.

Guerrilla leaders win wars by being paranoid and ruthless. Once they take power, they are expected to abandon those qualities and embrace opposite ones: tolerance, compromise and humility. Almost none manages to do so.

There is very little hope that the United States or anyone else can do much to stabilize Iraq, Libya, Syria or Egypt. Stabilizing Iran, and bringing it back into the family of nations, is much more possible. That would be a 'win' for both sides.

Countries that control water are likely to be the big winners of the future.

Many Americans, and many more people around the world, have been outraged by what they see as President George W. Bush's radical reordering of American foreign policy.