Romeo Dallaire Quotes

For more than two centuries since winning our own freedom, we the people of the United States have repeatedly answered the call to lead the quest for freedom around the globe.

If we want to be the leader of the world we have a unique responsibility to understand the problems of countries who cannot solve their own problems.

As I prepare for my second term as Secretary-General, I am thinking hard about how we can meet the expectations of the millions of people who see the U.N.'s blue flag as a banner of hope. We have to continue our life-saving work in peacekeeping, human rights, development and humanitarian relief.

The United Nations will be at the heart of our international activities. France will assume its full responsibilities at the Security Council by putting its status at the service of peace, respect for human rights and development.

And I hope America will realise, as the only superpower now, it really must use its power in a way that's going to build up the world, and to support the United Nations.

From the beginning of my time as Secretary-General, I have sought to advance a practical, action-oriented vision of the U.N. as the voice of the voiceless and the defender of the defenceless.

The United States has the burden to lead for peace. And not just peace - we need peace with justice, a much harder goal.

As Brian Urquhart has said quite correctly, I don't think that individual countries in the international community can stand aside and let all of these slaughters continue without doing anything.

I grew up in war and saw the United Nations help my country to recover and rebuild. That experience was a big part of what led me to pursue a career in public service. As Secretary-General, I am determined to see this organization deliver tangible, meaningful results that advance peace, development and human rights.

Our assistance in Somalia has been remarkably effective and successful, and we have helped with very small resources - a large group of people and we can now do even more.

Development is a lot cheaper than soldiers.

Because the shouts for European freedom at New York, and the poeans of the Fourth of July are drowned in the clanking of the chains in Washington and New Orleans, is the rising spirit or our free Canada to be drilled and broken down to suit the mock liberty of the model Republic. If they have no sympathy for their own oppressed children, they should feel indebted to those whose hearts are large enough to take in the oppressed of every land and of every color.

The overriding purpose of foreign assistance must be genuine development, not the assuaging of Western guilt or the care and feeding of the massive network of career professionals, non-profit organizations and private sector companies that constitute the global aid industry.

An attitude of letting the rest of the world stew in their own juice, is rather a dangerous one, that perhaps in our own interest we may have to take the initiative and have sufficient interest in other people's affairs to really want to help them remain at peace.

Wherever people long to be free, they will find a friend in the United States

America cannot be the world's policeman. But we must reject the new isolationism that says: don't help anywhere, because we cannot help everywhere.

The real cure to immigration, obviously, is to make sure that there is prosperity around the world so that people don't have the motive. Not just prosperity, but freedom.

I understood early on that the freedom of America is what made our way of life possible and that we should help other people live in freedom, too.

The world got side-tracked from development issues during the post-9/11 crisis period.

There are times when only America can make the difference between war and peace, between freedom and repression, between life death. We cannot save all the world's children but we can save many of them.

I believe we're stronger when we speak loudly and unapologetically for human rights; when we stand with our allies against common threats like terrorism, radicalization, and poverty; and when we unite to prevent the world's most dangerous regimes from acquiring the world's deadliest weapons.

In times of crisis, the world looks to Britain not just for our work on the ground, but also for our leadership.

In both Burma and Laos, we have engaged countries that were once adversaries, and will continue to do so in ways that promote good relations, development, and human rights.

Americans, apparently, either do nothing about the world's problems, in which case they are ignorant and isolationist, selfish and gutless, or they try to do something about the world's problems, in which case they are arrogant and naive, greedy and bullying.

The United States will always be a global leader, and we need to actively engage the international community to make sure all citizens of the world live freely and equally under their country's rule of law. We cannot, however, afford to fight other nations' wars interminably or stabilize their regions.