Gustav Stresemann Quotes

To contrast national solidarity and international cooperation as two opposites seems foolish to me.

The most tragic paradox of our time is to be found in the failure of nation-states to recognize the imperatives of internationalism.

Reagan was all about America, and you talked about it. Obama is, 'We are above that now. We're not just parochial, we're not just chauvinistic, we're not just provincial. We stand for something.' I mean, in a way, Obama's standing above the country, above - above the world. He's sort of God. He's going to bring all different sides together.

I believe that national sovereignties will shrink in the face of universal interdependence.

I believe that our national security lies not just in protecting our borders, but in bridging divides.

The countries that share this conception should be able to go further together, without excluding the others, since they can still live in a greater community of exchange and co-operation.

Let us mingle with other nations as one of them and not stand as one apart. Let us seek their friendship not their hate.

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.

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.

We are the most powerful nation in the world, but we're not the only nation in the world. We are not the only people in the world. We are an important people, the wealthiest, the most powerful and, to a great extent, generous. But we are part of the world.

There will always be nations. The United States will last a long, long time, I believe. France and Germany and Japan, China, other nations, they're going to exist. But they're losing their significance and ability to deal with certain matters.

Our civilization is now in the transition stage between the age of warring empires and a new age of world unity and peace.

Multilateralism is the democracy of international society.

Unilateralism and isolationism are ideological twins.

We shall have world government whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World government will be achieved by conquest or consent.

It is simply not feasible for sovereignty to be exercised unilaterally by individual nation-states, however powerful. It is a principle which will yield only slowly and reluctantly to the imperatives of global environmental cooperation.

Our relations with the other powers of the world are important, but still more important are our relations among ourselves.

I do believe that the international community cannot act based on a rivalries or things of that sort.

At the European table, we are systematically the most determined to advance a strategy of increased cooperation.

I think that America is the glue that holds the world together.

Like other countries in the world, China must uphold its own sovereignty, territorial integrity and development interests. At the same time, we are willing to properly handle differences and disagreements in state-to-state relations.

The statesmen still say that we should not interfere in the internal affairs of other nations and yet it is not possible any longer not to interfere, even when we do not mean to do so.

In the modern world, those who are weak will get unambiguous advice from foreign visitors which way to go and what policy course to pursue.

Europe must learn to live in and with the world, not to dominate it nor to assume it is superior or more virtuous.

International politics is no longer a zero-sum game but a multi-dimensional arena where cooperation and competition often occur simultaneously. Gone is the age of blood feuds. World leaders are expected to lead in turning threats into opportunities.