George F. Kennan Quotes
It never pays … for one great power to take advantage of the momentary weakness or distraction of another great power in order to force upon it concessions it would never have accepted in normal circumstances.
George F. Kennan, 1904-2005, Historian & U.S. Ambassador to Russia and Yugoslavia, At a Century’s Ending, 1990
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This was a warning to Saudi Arabia that the United States might seize the oil fields. At the time we were not getting enough oil for domestic needs and the military in Europe and in Vietnam. The King arranged to secretly supply oil to the United States while maintaining to the other Arab countries that it was maintaining the boycott of the West.
See {138034} for one world leader’s candid view of treaty obligations.
He very rarely had to use force, but he was always prepared to if necessary.
George Frost Kennan was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly histories of the relations between the USSR and the United States. He was also one of the group of foreign policy elders known as "The Wise Men".
