Kenneth Maxwell Quotes

Everyone assumes America must play the leading role in crafting some settlement or compromise between the Israelis and the Palestinians. But Jefferson, Madison, and Washington explicitly warned against involving ourselves in foreign conflicts.

The way you change foreign policy is by raising the domestic political cost of the policy.

American foreign policy towards Egypt, even before the Arab Spring, was tentative. When the Muslim Brotherhood moved against the NGOs—many of whom were American, President Obama, instead of raising Hell, raised questions.

I rang Brian [Mulroney] up. I said, "What's this bloody nonsense. You've got a wheat trade with Iraq and you won't come aboard?" I said, "We've got a bloody big wheat trade too, so get your priorities right." And he said, "Okay, Bob. I'll come." I rang George and he was very appreciative.

This is the devilish thing about foreign affairs: they are foreign and will not always conform to our whim.

The U.S. has intervened more often in more countries farther from its own shores than has any power in modern history.

The answer dictates what the policy should be in our relationships with every country in the world.

The whole notion of an embassy is like 'The Other.' That's what makes Washington interesting.

Venezuelan interests are to be defended by Venezuela. The U.S. should defend the interests of the U.S. Where are the U.S. people, where are the intellectuals, who could put limits on their government?

You know, Arabs are critical of United States foreign policy, but they also associate the U.S. with democratic principles and opportunity.

It's pretty well known that the CIA has been installing friendly dictators around the world for years.

President Obama could keep a big map with push pins on it to keep track of how many countries hate us, and when we get down to only half, let's have a ball. I'll blow up the balloons myself.

Some argue that recognition of the genocide has become even more problematic now, when the world is at war with terrorism and the United States cannot afford to offend the sensibility of our Turkish ally.

Any Ambassador or Foreign Service Officer who has his or her head screwed on right knows that the U.S. position in the world is far more dependent on our ability to compete in world markets.

Obama is cutting back on the idea that we're going to have Jeffersonian democracy in Pakistan or anywhere else.

People make mistakes. And one of the mistakes that the United States consistently made was that it could intervene and somehow adjust people's governments, especially in the Middle East.

We had, after all, no other recourse to protect ourselves, no other document, let's say, than the Monroe Doctrine. So that could be cited as a cause for intervention if and when it might become necessary.

It's in the interest of the U.S. to maintain a strong democracy in Colombia.

When it comes to the Middle East, this is always a very difficult issue for any American president.

I don’t think America wants democracies in the Middle East. They wouldn’t be nearly as friendly to us

I don’t want some bearded dictator ninety miles off thumbing his nose at us.

The Marietta is not in Honduran waters on banana police duty, but to exert a moral influence toward political tranquillity.

Some critics complain that Gary Hart doesn't have any experience in foreign policy. But that's not true. Why, just yesterday he had breakfast at the International House of Pancakes.

Under the Nixon-Ford administration, there has evolved a kind of secretive "Lone Ranger" foreign policy—a one-man policy of international adventure. This is not an appropriate policy for America.

That should be a goal of U. S. policy—not to get along with dictators.