Quotes from Timothy Garton Ash

Developments in information technology and globalised media mean that the most powerful military in the history of the world can lose a war, not on the battlefield of dust and blood, but on the battlefield of world opinion.

But transitions from the politics of violence to democratic compromise are always messy.

Except for its worst inner-city slums, America is not the primitive capitalist jungle of European imagination, where human beings slink away like wounded animals to die in bloodstained holes.

The key to the survival of liberty in the modern world is the embrace of multiple identities.

I have also been saddened, though hardly surprised, by the weakness of the EU's reaction to the criminal attack on the Danish embassy in Syria, which seems to have been permitted, if not actively encouraged, by the Syrian regime.

A central claim of the Bush administration's foreign policy is that the spread of democracy in the Middle East is the cure for terrorism.

Europe's biggest problem is its success.

Europe is a woman, now middle-aged, who has already had a number of heart attacks and is currently experiencing the biggest health crisis of her life, but one that need not be fatal.

Nuclear proliferation - the proliferation of WMDs altogether - is one of the greatest dangers of our time.

America is replicated at every level of British life, from the taxi driver to the prime minister.

That said, the question remains: how to strike the balance between free speech and mutual respect in this mixed-up world, both blessed and cursed with instant communication? We should not fight fire with fire, threats with threats.

To be in Florence is to reflect on Europe's intricate diversity - and its lost creativity.

I love this country, but the union jack leaves me cold.

After saying yes to Turkey, the EU is having difficulty finding clear and consistent grounds for saying no to other, still more remote candidates - but being in the general vicinity of Europe does seem to be a continuing requirement.

That said, the question remains: how to strike the balance between free speech and mutual respect in this mixed-up world, both blessed and cursed with instant communication? We should not fight fire with fire, threats with threats.

A cél pedig nem az, hogy mindenben egyetértsünk - ennek még a gondolatát is el kell vetni -, hanem az, hogy pontosan megegyezzünk abban, miképpen nem értünk egyet.

Ha nem tudjuk kifejezni gondolatainkat és érzéseinket, akkor emberi mivoltunkat sem tudjuk egészében megélni. Ha nem hallhatjuk és láthatjuk embertársaink érzéseit és gondolatait, akkor soha nem fogjuk megérteni, mit jelent másvalakinek lenni.

In this crowded world, we must learn to navigate by speech, as ancient mariners taught themselves to sail across the Aegean Sea.

A m?vészek úgy aránylanak az emberi beszédhez, mint a felfedezÅ'k az utazáshoz.

Yet another thing Canadians and Europeans have in common is an obsession with the United States, and with distinguishing themselves from it, often by crude stereotyping.

America is divided by a great argument about itself. Europe is divided by a great argument about America.

America is replicated at every level of British life, from the taxi driver to the prime minister.

Europe is a woman, now middle-aged, who has already had a number of heart attacks and is currently experiencing the biggest health crisis of her life, but one that need not be fatal.

So what were Europeans telling their leaders? The general message was perfectly summed up by the cartoonist Chappatte, who drew a group of protesters holding up a placard shouting "Unhappy" -- and one of their number shouting through a megaphone into the ballot box. There are 28 member states and 28 varieties of Unhappy.