Robin Wright Quotes

Some in the West have long argued that because of the lack of a viable liberal alternative, supporting authoritarian regimes in Arab countries is the only political choice against the Islamists. Now, in Tunisia, as people flood into the streets demanding democracy, we see that this is not the case. It was not the case in Iran in 1979 either, but the West was so invested in the Shah that it failed to strongly back the liberal opposition. We don't have to repeat that error today.

My goal for the Arab world is to change the status quo, which is horrible politically, religiously, economically, in every way.

Had you asked an expert on the Middle East what changes would be likely to tke place in 2011, almost none would have predicted the Arab Spring and none would have chosen Tunisia as the flashpoint.

I salute all the nations of the Arab Spring and I salute the heroic people of Syria who are striving for freedom, democracy and reform.

The Arab Spring I think we will look back whether it's two years, five years, ten or fifteen. And say it's a good thing.

Most [Arab] people are very pleased that he is out, but they are embarrassed that they didn't do it and that it was done for them.

The so called “Arab Spring” … is really a situation which is creating more threats so far than positive incentives.

Across the region, those rights that we take for granted are being claimed with joy by those who are prying loose the grip of an iron fist.

Let us remember that revolutions do not always establish freedom.

The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing. The Berlin Wall has fallen. We can see it.

You can never have a revolution in order to establish a democracy. You must have a democracy in order to have a revolution.

The aim of my life is the overthrow of monarchy.

None of us is certain about the outcome of the Arab Spring.

The Arab Awakening or Arab Spring has transformed the geopolitical landscape.

The Arab Spring is over. The days of the protesters with laptops and BlackBerrys in Tahrir Square are long gone.

Certainly we've seen the enormous changes across the whole of the Middle East. The democratic genie is out of the bottle.

No one will remember that President Obama supported the Arab Spring if it eventually fails and the region collapses back into the political Dark Ages. If we actively engage these movements with advice, with money, and, when necessary, with military force, then we get a vote in how it all turns out.

As you know with the Arab Spring, there were no dividends.

The most striking thing is that even before Osama bin Laden was killed, he seemed largely irrelevant to the Arab Spring.

The free world should not wait for dictatorial regimes to consent to reform.

The Arab world is ripe for internal revolution like the USSR and China in the past decade.

Revolutions do not always establish freedom.

Israel and America are the only two grievances which may be freely expressed in Arab counties.

The transition from authoritarianism to democracy is not as easy as it appears in position papers – it is a rambunctious affair.

It is overly optimistic to think that we can take a country that has emerged from under a totalitarian regime with its institutions of civil society and create a beacon of democracy within five years. If we try to transform Iraq into a democracy, we will need more and more troops over time because we will have to quell nationalistic revolts.