Paul Nitze Quotes

You can do a lot with diplomacy, but with diplomacy backed up by force you can get a lot more done

The way that you get your diplomats listened to in an imperfect world is you make certain you back them up with hard power. The reason I say that is, as much as I’d like to live in a world where people who are out to do others harm would be willing to listen to rational thought, not everyone is.

Yet, when one thinks of it, diplomacy without force is a but a rotten reed to lean upon.

Power alone is respected and ... in order to gain peace, the United States has no alternative but to wield it

I believe in peace through strength. I would prefer to rely on the military rather than diplomats to protect our homes.

Diplomacy without arms is music without instruments.

Diplomacy, when matched by force, can achieve our objectives.

The survival of this country depends upon letting the world know we have the power and the ability to use it if the occasion demands.

A superpower does not have to be the bully on the block.

Our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please …. Our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

Soft power … cannot accomplish much in the absence of a willingness to use hard power.

It is not important what the other side says or means. What is important are the military capabilities of the other side.

We need to defend against weaknesses within and enemies without, using the tools of civil society and hard power. We don't have to pick one over the other.

On foreign policy, Obama has talked softly and carried a big stick.

Obviously, having served in wars myself, I'm eager to do everything possible to avoid them, but our military capability vis-a-vis a country like Iran is a major source of leverage in any negotiation that we should never, ever give up.

If diplomacy has any chance to work, it must be coupled with a credible military threat.

Peace is purchased from strength. It's not purchased from weakness or unilateral retreats.

Mr. Chamberlain desires to avert the threat to England's peace by making England, in alliance with Germany, stronger than her rivals and so to force them to renounce their hostile intentions against her.

I do not believe that diplomacy equals weakness…. If you are going to use force you better make sure that it is effective.

The nation's mere possession of military power ready for exertion provides visible support for the nation's expression of views on foreign affairs, and that often is enough to make the expression persuasive. Thus a foreign policy which has a respectable basis in justice and morality is strengthened if it has also a respectable basis in physical force.

We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years … and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in, and otherwise we have returned home … to live our own lives in peace. But there comes a time when soft power or talking with evil will not work where, unfortunately, hard power is the only thing that works.

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

Very near the heart of all foreign affairs is the relationship between policy and military power.

Diplomacy and force are two sides of the same coin.

All diplomacy is a continuation of war by other means.