Henry Chambers Quotes

Unilateralism in secret is sometimes necessary at the height of a crisis.

The United States has become geopolitically hobbled seemingly interested in grand strategic initiatives or transformative diplomacy, as its attention constantly dances from one crisis to another.

We're in danger of breaking our army and preventing our national leaders from having the flexibility to confront not just Iraq and Afghanistan, but crises around the globe.

As a world leader, America must be prepared to confront any challenge.

The Obama administration rarely demonstrated the ability to shift gears and change policy in its first year. Even in the face of historic events such as the continuing demonstrations against Iran's regime, it stuck devotedly to prior plans.

Foreign policy is all about a universe of bad decisions, imperfect decisions; every situation is different. The dynamics, the atmospherics, the people, the pressures, the geopolitical realities shift.

Mistakes, after all, are endemic to foreign and military policy given the unpredictability of events and the difficulty of securing reliable information in a place like Iraq.

By dedicating so much concentration to the issue of security, bilateral matters pass to a secondary level.

I used to have a little saying I used when people said, 'What are your priorities?' I'd give them a bit of government alphabet soup. I'd say 'CTCPROW: Counterterrorism, counterproliferation, rest of the world.'

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

Obama is thoroughly mixed up with all these things he's got. He's got to solve Libya. He's got to solve Afghanistan. He's everywhere. And this nation, I don't know why it's not showing the leadership and capacity to attend different issues at the same time.

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

Every diplomatic breakthrough is preceded by a crisis, but not every crisis leads to a breakthrough.

There is no area where experience matters more than in war and diplomacy.

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

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

Statecraft, as these cases convincingly illustrate, is demanding and often exhausting work. There are risks, and success is not guaranteed. It requires major governmental and political resources and the same kind of hourly, year-round planning and execution as the conduct of a military campaign.

The great problem now is that we don’t know what to do.

Our foreign policy is inadequate, outmoded and misdirected .... If we go on as we are, soon—in the fashion of the cat on a hot tin roof—we shall be skipping from one crisis to another all over the globe, unable to get our footing anywhere.

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

Our nation counts on us to have the expertise and the insight to flag the risks and the opportunities that lie ahead, and to keep our eye on all the critical international concerns that face our nation right now.

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

Bishops need to resist the defensiveness that institutions often fall back on in crisis moments.

Foreign policy commands attention when it's crisis management. A street revolt breaks out in Egypt or Libya or Kiev and everyone asks, how should the president respond? Now these are important parts of America's role in the world, but they are essentially reactive and tactical. The broader challenge is to lay down a longer-term strategy that endures after the crisis of the moment.

We've mismanaged going into Iraq.