Zbigniew Brzezinski Quotes

My priority is to give the United States the kind of influence it should have.

If the United States disengages from many issues confronting the international community it will be replaced.

An isolationist America is no bloody use to anyone.

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

The rest of the world cares about how we conduct our affairs because they then take that lead. We're the only leader in the world today. Some are wishing us well, others think that we're down and are not going to get back up again, but they are all watching with great interest to see how we conduct our business over the next couple of years.

Surveys show our standing around the world is higher than when I was elected to this office, and when it comes to every important international issue, people of the world do not look to Beijing or Moscow to lead - they call us.

The real danger to Britain is a foreign policy that is isolationist in Europe and therefore weak in the rest of the world.

So moderate is insisting that North Korea should open door to outside.

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

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

America must always lead on the world stage.

Making the case for sustained U. S. [world] leadership is not always easy. Unilateralism or isolationism often make for better sound bites.

To his credit, Obama has undertaken a truly ambitious effort to redefine the United States' view of the world and to reconnect the United States with the emerging historical context of the twenty-first century. He has done this remarkably well.

I think it's fair to say that diplomacy today requires much more of that if you're the United States of America than it did 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago.

People don't question American power. What people need to be convinced of is American will.

Because of Obama's ill-advised actions, the world has lost American leadership.

Isolationism is not leadership.

There's a good lesson for policymakers: It's not the presence of the U.S. that is a problem for many people in the Arab region; it's the type of presence we bring.

What would be the difference if we retreated and let the French and Germans make decisions for the world? We tried that twice in the last century. Isolationsim, refusing to accept our role in the world, and delaying our response to evildoers ultimately cost fifty-three million lives in World War 2 alone. The preemption policy of the Bush administration, taking the war to the enemy and exporting democracy and freedom, has liberated fifty million.

I would have said, before the World Trade Center events, that he would try to get a normal relationship with China - making clear to China what the limits are of what America can accept, but also showing understanding for some of Chinese necessities. I thought he was moving towards the position that I have more or less advocated.

I believe, and always have, that America must engage - not retreat - in the world.

I think that Russia is very aware that they are on notice when it comes to certain issues. They are very aware that we do want to try and defeat ISIS together, if that's at all possible, along with our allies. But there's no love or anything going on with Russia right now. They get that we're getting our strength back, that we're getting our voice back, and that we're starting to lead again. And honestly, at the United Nations, that's the number one comment I get is they're just so happy to see the United States lead again.

I believe that Israel is one of our most important friends in the world.

I think it would be a threat [Donald's Trump presidency] to the conduct of our foreign policy and our position in the world at large.

The American people are not naifs who yearn for isolationism, but they are starting to ask some hard questions about the way we have been doing business for 50 years, and it may well be time to grant the French, Canadians, Germans, Turks, South Koreans, and a host of others their wishes for independence from us: polite friendship - but no alliances, no bases, no money, no trade concessions, and no more begging for the privilege of protecting them.