Zbigniew Brzezinski Quotes

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

The U.N. is one of many competitors in a marketplace of global problem solving.

There are nearly 200 countries and a population of over 6 billion in today's world. International affairs should be addressed by all countries through consultations rather than monopolised by a few powers.

It is absolutely unacceptable to talk to Russia - or anyone for that matter - in the language of ultimatums and coercive measures.

Americans tend to go for it all. In international politics you can’t have it all. You have to compromise.

Diplomacy without arms is music without instruments.

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

In the affairs of nations, too much hard power ends up breeding not submission but resistance. Likewise great soft power does not bend hearts; it twists minds in resentment and rage.

Diplomacy, is persuasion in the shadow of power.

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.

Politics and war are remarkably similar situations.

The world cannot be governed without juggling.

As we have seen, the wireless and the airplane have made the world so small and nations so dependent on each other that the only alternative to war is the United States of the World.

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.

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

Force is not inevitable. Diplomacy is still the desired means. Pressure is an element of the means.

People versed in politics need not be told that the devil is in the detail, and tough solutions implying the use of force cannot produce a lasting long-term settlement.

The U.N. can be very frustrating and at times impotent, but it can also be a valuable forum for discussion and resolution of world problems. We should not walk away from it just because it's failed to live up to its promise.

It is my view that we cannot conduct foreign policy at the extremes.

Addressing global resentment cannot be put off. If we do not learn to use our predominant power with great restraint, we will antagonize the world.

Appeasement was never a very clever policy, and it should not be our option today.

Alliances and international organizations should be understood as opportunities for leadership and a means to expand our influence, not as constraints on our power.

War has rules, mud wrestling has rules - politics has no rules.

The mantra from the Obama State Department is 'smart power' - the not-so-new idea that all elements of national power should be utilized to influence other countries.

And so I think that the idea of America working with other countries to solve problems is good for us, and it is part of digging us out of the 'my way or the highway' approach that was evident in the previous eight years.