Barton Gellman Quotes

Even allies don’t share every single interest that you have. That’s a law of nature in the international system. They will tell you most of what you need to know but there may be some things that they don’t tell you that you need to know in order to formulate your policy as wisely as you can.

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

The United States has got to adopt a policy of befriending and creating allies around the world.

Germany must be a country which generates political ideas and leadership, which is capable of compromise, which is sovereign and yet knows that it needs its partners on both sides of the Atlantic.

Foreign Policy has to be less foreign.

Multilateralism may be little more than a polite way of camouflaging what is in practice unilateralism with allies.

The United States may have to abandon its policy of avoiding entangling alliances.

You cannot have individual foreign policy. You cannot have celebrity foreign policy.

I don’t think that we should ever apply our military power unilaterally…. If we cannot persuade like-minded, friendly nations of the wisdom of our policy, then maybe we should rethink the policy.

English [foreign] policy is to float lazily downstream, occasionally putting out a diplomatic boat-hook to avoid collisions.

History asks of us that we never act unilaterally, never alone, but only within the alliances of NATO, the United Nations and the European Union as it is clearly specified in international law

Foreign policy is about the execution of ideas as much as their formulation.

Under Clinton, the defiance of world order has become so extreme as to be of concern even to hawkish policy analysts.

When Barack Obama was running for president, he committed to leading the United Nations and other countries towards a common global goal. Obama believed that he could speak to allies and dictators directly and charm them into seeing the error of their ways.

In addition to deep divisions on issues such as trade, climate change, Middle East peace and nuclear weapons, Trump's attacks on leaders such as Trudeau and Merkel and disrespect for NATO and other institutions are prompting a reassessment by allied governments and publics.

I know that our country is strongest when we lead the world, when we lead strong alliances. And that's the way Eisenhower and Reagan and Kennedy and others did it.

I'm a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

There is no international problem that can be addressed or solved without the engagement and leadership of the United States and everybody in the world knows that, its just fact of life. So sometimes I think we could conduct ourselves with a little more humility.

It's not just Iraq - it's the Atlantic partnership which is at stake.

Our alliances should be understood as a means to expand our influence, not as a constraint on our power. The expansion of democracy and freedom in the world should be a shared interest and value with all nations.

Obama's foreign policy is strangely self-centered, focused on himself and the United States rather than on the conduct and needs of the nations the United States allies with, engages with, or must confront.

American foreign policy, for all its shortcomings, has underpinned political stability around the world.

The answer dictates what the policy should be in our relationships with every country in the world.

Bill Clinton's foreign policy experience stems mainly from having breakfast at the International House of Pancakes.

For years now, long before I became House majority leader, I have been passionate about foreign affairs because I believe that anyone who leads in Washington must appreciate the significance of America's role in providing for global security and prosperity.