David Ignatius Quotes

Sanctions are not diplomacy; they are a precursor to war.

Sanctions are a bad idea.

Economic sanctions rarely achieve the desired results.

Sanctions historically are quite counterproductive in the sense that if you impose sanctions on your enemy, it tends to strengthen your enemy.

There's been a deliberate and systematic effort to convey to countries around the world, friends and foes, that if they cross the United States there's a price to pay.

You should never take military intervention off the table. When you do so, you give an out to a rogue nation or rogue actors.

Embargo is not war.

[Sanctions] make us feel like a player in foreign policy where our powers tend to be more limited …. We’re less patient with diplomacy.

What is the point in punishing a country?

For Italy, sanctions are never an end; they are an instrument that must be overcome as soon as possible.

In my experience, bad actors respond to threats of military action or sanctions.

If somebody prefers to work by means of sanctions, he is welcome to do so. But sanctions are a temporary measure. Firstly, they contradict the international law. Secondly, tell me where this policy of sanctions proved to be effective. The answer is nowhere.

In international affairs, you never threaten things you're not prepared to do.

Sanctions are a sign of irritation; they are not the instrument of serious policies.

Sanctions and boycotts would be tied to serious political dialogue.

Diplomats make it their business to conceal the facts, and politicians violently denounce the politicians of other countries.

Appeasement was never a very clever policy, and it should not be our option today.

Power alone is respected and ... in order to gain peace, the United States has no alternative but to wield it

Threats must be credible if they are to influence the behavior of other states.

If there are countries in the world who are willing to flout sanctions, it doesn’t matter if we have sanctions or not.

Foreign policy works best when force and diplomacy are used together.

I have always favored withdrawing recognition from Russia.

At home you always have to be a politician. When you're abroad you almost feel yourself a statesman.

…sanctions applied to a large nation meant war. They bred “incurable hatreds”.

… neither the sanctions of international law nor the justice of a cause can be depended upon for a fair settlement of differences, when they come into conflict with a strong political necessity on the one side opposed to comparative weakness on the other.