Mohammad Khatami Quotes

Diplomacy, is persuasion in the shadow of power.

If you have diplomatic relations, maybe you can try to change them from within. If you don’t have diplomatic relations, change can only come from without through confrontation.

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

I don't want to force the peacekeeping nations to feel like I'm pushing them out.

The use and threat of force, when world peace is not in danger, are no longer valid frames of reference for achieving the ends sought today by sovereign nations.

In foreign policy, there are times when speaking with one voice - and it doesn't have to be mine - allows us to engage better on issues, and enables us to do things more effectively.

I don’t talk to countries that exhibit bad behavior.

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

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

Mr. Roosevelt. You perhaps believe that your intervention can be effective anywhere.

Is a military solution the only way to stop nations from doing bad things?

Frankly, Senators, if nations may not safely agree to respect each other’s rights, and may not agree to confer if one party to the compact threatens trespass, or may not agree to advise if one party to the pact is threatened by an outside power, then all concerted efforts to tranquilize the world and stabilize peace must be flung to the winds. Either these treaties must have your cordial sanction, or every proclaimed desire to promote peace and prevent war becomes a hollow mockery

Hard power makes sense under some circumstances. But there's not a universal solution to global problems.

The United States should not frame its policy options in terms of doing nothing or unilaterally sending in the Marines.

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.

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

I believe in much more diplomacy, not less.

Working across the aisle, I helped pass laws exposing business dealings in Iran, cracking down on Iranian human rights abusers, and applying crippling sanctions to Iran's oil and gas industries.

Diplomacy and coalition-building are hard work and not easy for any president.

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

Diplomacy can and will matter; little is inevitable in international relations.

[Recep Tayyip] Erdogan is an adherent of realpolitik. He knows that international relations are not built on the strength of unilateral demands, but on solutions that are in everybody's best interest.

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

To attempt to superimpose its views through the exercise of force, is seldom the part of intelligence; it is frequently the part of ignorance.

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