Timothy McVeigh Quotes

Foreign policy works best when force and diplomacy are used together.

Whether you're dealing with your allies in Europe or you're dealing with a resurgent Russia, whether you're dealing with Iran or North Korea, you have to use the whole panoply of national tools of power to deal with the challenges the world faces.

I think most Americans believe that although it's better not to use military force if you can avoid it, that the world simply doesn't provide us the luxury of giving away military force as an important tool of foreign policy.

We have treated our most serious adversaries, such as Iran and North Korea, in the most juvenile manner - by giving them the silent treatment. In so doing, we have weakened, not strengthened, our bargaining position and our leadership.

Colin Powell has said over the years that Saddam Hussein is like a toothache. It recurs from time to time, and you just have to live with it. At other times, he's compared Saddam Hussein to a kidney stone that will eventually pass. But he has never said, 'You have to operate and take out the kidney stone.'

Trust between allies is as important as deterrence of foes.

We won’t be very successful with the Chinese leadership [on human rights issues] if we’re in their face all the time.

Foreign policy does not mean guns and rifles, but utilizing all legitimate international means to convince others.

A great power that uses force far less than vital interests, and that does so frequently or with a short fuse, risks mobilizing other states to join ranks to balance against it.

Public diplomacy, practiced in harmony with traditional diplomacy, will enable us to advance our interest, to protect our security, and to continue to provide the moral basis for our leadership in the world.

There are two things that are very expensive in international relations: promises when they succeed and threats when they fail

Deterrence is a dynamic, interactive process between at least two entities. Deterrence policies are predicated on threatening an adversary with pain if that adversary changes its behavior in ways that you find detrimental to your interests.

It’s not in our interest to drive the Russians into a beleaguered attitude where they have to prove what they can do.

Diplomacy is important, extremely important, and I don't think these reductions at the State Department are appropriate because many times diplomacy is a lot more effective - and cert cheaper - than military engagement.

We need to quit appeasing our adversaries, and we need to stand with our allies.

Not every threat to America's national interests can be addressed with military power.

Certainly the Government has tried to handle the matter of our relations with the rest of the Continent in a very sensitive manner.

Rahm Emanuel seems to think he knows Israel very well, and that the way to treat that country and its democratically-elected government is the way he treats all opponents in politics: by attacking and attacking.

An effective U.S. policy toward Sudan - one capable of changing the situation in the south and affecting the lives of its people - will require top-level attention and a great deal of energy. It should have three elements: aid, diplomacy, and financial disclosure.

In international affairs, you never threaten things you're not prepared to do.

Both Bibi and Obama realize that they are going to have to face the problem of Iran together.

In a world of complex threats, our security and leadership depends on all elements of our power - including strong and principled diplomacy.

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.

A great nation like the United States has many and varied interests, and we need both to do business with tyrants and to engage constantly in multilateral diplomacy.

Condi Rice talks tough but she cannot be tough herself.