Yoshihiko Noda Quotes

Ninety percent of foreign policy is reacting to whatever's happening out there.

Some think that by preparing to deal with crises you make them more likely. I think the wiser judgment is the contrary. In this area at least, if you want peace or stability, it's better to prepare for war or instability.

I'm very confident that the solutions that we are developing are going to be effective not only in application in Iraq, but also will be very helpful for potential homeland security situations as well.

The President never intends to get into any kind of war situation. He gets carried away by events.

In foreign policy, the only thing worse than not doing something is doing something that fails or makes the situation worse.

George Bush has shown great skill at disguising an incredibly weak foreign policy.

We have generals working on worst-case scenarios; we need statesmen on best cases.

Foreign policy matters cannot be intelligently decided in a large general meeting.

When you’re reactive [in foreign policy] you often arrive on the scene too late.

The art of government is to deal with threats before they become overwhelming.

The best way to avoid hostages being taken in the future is to devalue the hostages that exist.

Part of the genius of diplomacy is to resolve issues before crises come along.

Foreign policy is like plumbing. You never notice it till it breaks and then all hell breaks loose.

Unless confronted by an immediate, visible, or uncomfortable crisis, our nation's tendency is to take the security of the Western Hemisphere for granted.

What he's really talking about - and I'm speaking for Mike Flynn, not Donald Trump - is that he's saying, essentially, we have to have options. We have to have a lot of options. And, frankly, we do. We do have a lot of options.

America has historically met the challenges to its national security with decisive actions that defeated or, at a minimum, contained the threat.

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton is exceptionally qualified to serve as President Trump's National Security Adviser, and I fully support his selection.

We want a rules-based order in Asia-Pacific like we have had in the Atlantic.

Why should Iran have a deterrent strategy? Well, it's surrounded by hostile enemies. Both of its borders have been under occupation by a hostile superpower, the United States, which is constantly violating the U.N. charter by leaving open what they call the saying, 'all options are open' - meaning the threat of war.

I think there is a failure in foreign policy. And you have to acknowledge that under Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton was the architect of that foreign policy. Whether it was malevolent or not, I don't know.

I felt from the start that America was not likely to relinquish lightly positions established at the cost of such sacrifices, and I pressed the view that a high degree of preparation and willingness to make sacrifices would be necessary on our side, but everybody here always persists in facile optimism until the very worst actually happens.

In Israel, we are sorry for the loss of life of Turkish citizens in May 2010, when Israel confronted a provocative flotilla of ships bound for Gaza. I am sure that the proper way to express these sentiments to the Turkish government and the Turkish people can be found.

Israel's security policy is determined by our needs. I strongly reject all the unfounded publicity suggesting that Israel is prevented from taking action because of international pressure.

Over the years, I've been involved in many business crises. I qualify this, since my crises have never involved life and death or the survival of the human race. But they are still crises.

My basic advice to the Chinese with respect to the South China Sea is, 'Hey, guys, cool it.'