Quotes About Diplomacy

Hitler and Mussolini independently but simultaneously decided to intervene on the same side in Spain. This in turn led to a formal meeting between Hitler and Foreign Minister Ciano in October 1936, after which the formation of a "Rome-Berlin Axis" was announced.

At least three foreign ambassadors—the Dutch, the Portuguese and the Finnish—lived at the Dakota along with the French Minister of Cultural Affairs. There had been the distinguished Schirmers and Steinways.

Whenever peace—conceived as the avoidance of war—has been the primary objective Ã¢â'¬Â¦ the international system has been at the mercy of its most ruthless member. —Henry Kissinger

Nor did the Americans find it necessary to wage a ruthless campaign. As has been mentioned previously, both sides respected

To avoid public mention of any name unless it can be done with favorable intent and connotation; reserve all criticism for the private conference; speak only good in public.

the strongest reason of all for the United States [to stay out] is the fact that among all the powerful nations of the world the United States is the only one with a tradition of anti-colonialism. . . . The standing of the United States as the most powerful of the anti-colonial powers is an asset of incalculable value to the Free World

Vyacheslav Molotov

I am getting desperate with the inability of the men there to understand what can be spent on military weapons and what must be spent to wage the peace.

You are truly classy if you manage to speak politely in spite of anger boiling inside you.

Given a fair wind, we will negotiate our way into the Common Market, head held high, not crawling in. Negotiations? Yes. Unconditional acceptance of whatever terms are offered us? No.

You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.

A globalized world is by now a familiar fact of life. Building walls or moats may sound appealing, but the future belongs to those who tend to their people and then boldly engage the rest of the world, near and far.

The world won't be taken over by guns and swords. It'll be with smiles and signatures.

Here's how bizarre the war is that we're in in Iraq, and we should have known this right from the get-go: When we first went into Iraq, Germany didn't want to go. Germany. The Michael Jordan of war took a pass.

Yesterday, the president met with a group he calls the coalition of the willing. Or, as the rest of the world calls them, Britain and Spain

There is at least one official voice in Europe that expresses understanding of the methods and motives of President Roosevelt," began a New York Times report in July 1933. "This voice is that of Germany, as represented by Chancellor Adolf Hitler." The German leader told the Times, "I have sympathy with President Roosevelt because he marches straight toward his objective over Congress, over lobbies, over stubborn bureaucracies.

Diplomacy is only important when the other party has the upper hand.

The more you understand politics, the more you realize that you mustn't move.

It would be a long ten days before Sadat and Begin were in the same room at the same time again. In the meantime, Carter would meet for many hours alone with each one, a level of personal diplomacy unmatched by any other American president.

In Warsaw in 1977 he made an unscheduled and highly symbolic visit to the head of Poland's Catholic Church, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, and advised Edward Gierek, the first secretary of the Polish Communist Party, to speak more often with the cardinal. "It's never too late" to become a believer, he told Gierek, skillfully exploiting the tension between Gierek's ancestral Catholicism and the atheism of Communist doctrine.

Carter also showed respect by becoming the first American president to visit sub-Saharan Africa while in office: a state visit to Nigeria in 1978. He invited more African heads of state to the White House in his first year than any of his predecessors had in four.

and if he had been a different kind of president—he might have sent troops somewhere (as six of his predecessors had) or bombed some country (as all of his successors have). That would have ultimately been more popular than canceling US participation in the Olympics and slamming the farm belt and nascent tech sector with embargoes. In the end, Carter managed to show resolve without imperiling American lives—just as he intended.

Maybe you should go make that call again. Ask very specifically how much of who's ass needs to be kissed here. I'm pretty sure it's my hairy butt that's gonna be getting all the love.

If you'd blush saying something in person, don't write it.