Jack Straw Quotes

Negotiating in the classic diplomatic sense assumes parties more anxious to agree than to disagree.

Sometimes you need conflict in order to come up with a solution. Through weakness, oftentimes, you can't make the right sort of settlement, so I'm aggressive, but I also get things done, and in the end, everybody likes me.

You know, you pick and choose your battles.

Why are we talking about talking? Why negotiating about negotiating? It's very simple. If you want to get to peace, put all your preconditions on the side, sit down opposite a table, not in a studio, by the way.

To resolve problems through negotiation is a very childish approach.

What matters is not whether one talks to adversaries but what one says to them, which strategies of engagement are set in place, and how competently they are executed.

UN administrators ... think that no problem in the world is too intractable to be solved by negotiation. These mandarins fail to grasp that men with guns do not respect men with nothing but flapping gums ... Just as the US Marine Corps breeds warriors, so the UN’s culture breeds conciliators.

The challenge in multi-lateral negotiations is not to lose sight of one's over-arching goal in the midst of the cacophony of opinions at the bargaining table.

I will go anywhere, anytime, to meet with anyone to find common ground.

Diplomacy is much more than just talking to your friends... You've got to talk to people who aren't our friends, and even people you dislike.

There is no conflict in the world that cannot be solved.

I've spent my life navigating through sensitive issues. Not wanting to upset people.

There should be an honest attempt at the reconciliation of differences before resorting to combat.

A peace deal requires agreements, and you don't make agreements with your friends, you make agreements with your enemies.

Number one, that it is smart to communicate and negotiate with your enemy instead of just waging war with bombs and weapons of mass destruction.

Intervention only works when the people concerned seem to be keen for peace.

Violence is my last option.

You have to give everybody another recourse as some means other than violence, no matter how distasteful it may be to have to deal with them and what they represent.

I've grown up a little bit. I understand the importance of the negotiation. It is a collective act.

A prime minister has to keep a certain balance when dealing with sensitive issues.

I'm a mediator by training and inclination.

I try to avoid conflict. I don't want people to be unhappy.

If you are going to make peace, you can't just meet nice people.

Sharon is capable of making peace.

The only thing you think of is that you are in the middle and that you've got to find a way to stop it.