Robert D. Kaplan Quotes

Wherever you have weakening states and turmoil, you will have a fertile petri dish for terrorism.

In situations of military conflict, civil strife, lawlessness, bad governance, and human rights violations, terrorists find it easier to hide, train and prepare their attacks.

Hamas feeds off the failures of secular governments.

Terrorism is only a problem in failed states with significant Muslim populations.

ISIS did not come down from the sky. They found the opportunity to grow, and the world allowed them to grow.

This war on terrorism is going to continue for an indefinite period of time.

I think it is absolutely correct to solve the problem of terrorism in Iraq and Syria and Libya.

Terrorists

Terrorism often finds a home in states mired in civil war …

Simply eight young men … standing amidst the ruins of one administration with the foundation of another not yet laid …. No police were functioning through the country, no system of justice was operating, the wheels of the administration hung idle, battered out of recognition by the clash of rival jurisdictions.

An uncontrollable situation, in which there are no clearly defined spheres of authority, has come about in the country. Under these conditions, normal life is impossible.

When governments become weak, troubles are certain to erupt.

Out of regime change you get chaos. From the chaos you have seen repeatedly the rise of radical Islam. So we get this profession of, oh, my goodness, they want to do something about terrorism and yet they're the problem because they allow terrorism to arise out of that chaos.

What is happening in the Sahel for the past several months is that terrorists have structured themselves, have installed themselves. It's not simply a menace for west Africa.

The fate of Syria hangs in the balance, but it is entirely possible that the fall of the Assad regime will result in anarchy and cause Syria to turn into a second Afghanistan, a base for anti-Israel terrorism.

The invasion of Iraq, particularly, gave a big shot in the arm to the jihadi extremists.

When government disappears, it's not as if paradise will take its place. When governments are gone, other interests will take their place.

I'm not frightened about terrorism. I'm frightened about the roots of what we call terrorism.

If terror groups are to be defeated, it is national governments that will have to do so. In nations like India, governments will have to call on the patriotism of citizens to fight the terrorists. In a nation like Pakistan, the government will have to be persuaded to deal with those in their midst who are complicit.

Terrorism, ladies and gentlemen, in my eyes I have a very, very, very simple explanation. Gangs of criminals, killers, used unfortunately by certain governments in the past for political purposes, who are on their own now as gangs.

There are two kinds of terrorism. Rational terrorism such as Palestinian terrorism and apocalyptic terrorism like Sept. 11. You have to distinguish between the two.

It is development, not poverty, that causes upheaval and terrorism.

Al Qaeda is alive and well in Libya, Iraq, Syria and the wars are not receding.

The war being fought in Afghanistan and Iraq is bringing about a fundamental change to the environment that has given rise and power to the extremists who export terrorism.

There were no international terrorists in Iraq until we went in. It was we who gave the perfect conditions in which Al Qaeda could thrive.