Colin Powell Quotes

The only good thing I can say about the deal with Iran is that it brought the Arab states and Israel closer together.

We are engaging in the diplomatic efforts that are required within Iraq among the Shia, the Sunni and the Kurd, among friends, like Egypt, and Turkey and Saudi Arabia, but also enemies like Iran and Syria. They have to have buy-in into that process.

Reduce US military presence in Iraq; and bring in neighbors.

I don't think you can solve what's going on in Iraq unless you can deal effectively with the region and you can't deal effectively with the region if you start with the premise that you can't talk to people who disagree with you.

Bahrain is moving at one pace, Morocco another, Qatar at another, Kuwait at yet another. And we are there to assist our friends.

With Iran's long history of lies and non-cooperation, why are we talking to them? Why are we giving them legitimacy?

It's important to reach out to moderate Arab nations, like Jordan and Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

South America goes its own way dramatically in international affairs.

The ASEAN is located at the center of the Indo-Pacific region and is critical for achieving a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.

We will work constructively with China as we always have. Our futures are very much intertwined in the region.

Every time we refuse to stand up for liberty and our core beliefs as a nation in the face of aggression from the Chinese regime, we legitimize their behaviour and encourage more bully tactics.

After Victor Paz's government, I was still in politics, but I personally spent a lot of time consulting and working with Argentina, with Peru, and in Brazil.

The E.U. is a common platform where we come together and agree to do certain things. But the E.U. is never going to take over the responsibility which governments have for prosperity and security of their people.

Venezuela is independent. It's diversifying its exports to a limited extent, instead of just being dependent on exports to the United States. And it's initiating moves toward Latin American integration and independence. It's what they call a Bolivarian alternative and the United States doesn't like any of that.

The notion that we would condition Iran not getting nuclear weapons in a verifiable deal on Iran recognizing Israel is really akin to saying that we won't sign a deal unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms. And that is, I think, a fundamental misjudgment.

It was an agreement between Saddam (Hussein) and the shah of Iran and not between Iraq and Iran.

We have no lesson to teach Russia if we concurrently roll out the red carpet to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and China.

The entire Islamic world condemned Iran. Nowadays, because of the unwarranted invasion of Iraq by Bush and Blair, which was a completely unjust adventure based on misleading statements, and the lack of any effort to resolve the Palestinian issue, there is massive Islamic condemnation of the United States.

The Arab leaders, they don't have a love affair with the Palestinians or the Palestinian leadership, but the publics have, and they cannot feel safe in their own chairs if they accept Israel, the mistress, so to speak, to acknowledge her as a main, the Unter den Linden, the main road, as long as we are not moving forward with the Palestinians.

Iran is a powerful country. Iran is a big country with a large population, natural resources, human resources. But we are a country that is content with its size, content with its geography. We have not engaged in any military adventures in the past 250 years. We don't see any of this as Iran trying to dominate this region. We see some people panicking in our region and we believe there is no need to panic. We are prepared to work with all our neighbors to ensure the security and prosperity of our region.

Every country has its own diplomacy. Being part of Europe doesn't mean giving up one's independence or no longer being able to take the initiative.

The reality is that Qatar is an ally of the United States. There are a significant number of American troops that are stationed in Qatar. What we did for them and do for them is security for their facilities.

I have underscored my commitment to dialogue and cooperation with our neighboring Turkey, a country that plays an important role for the future of our region. But I still stress that the promotion of this important relations can only take place on the basis of mutual respect without threats of war and questioning of sovereign rights.

All these think tank experts in Washington at the Woodrow Wilson Center say, "It's really, really a dangerous thing. It's just not right. The president of the United States should never, ever make his first foreign trip to the Middle East! Never, ever. Because it's too fraught with potential disaster. Because President Trump clearly is not sophisticated enough to know the idiosyncrasies, the customs, and the requirements." That's right, no president ever has. Do you know that there has never by a direct flight from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to Tel Aviv until Donald Trump did it? Never.

We shouldn't have a program where we just say that we're going to take care of the world's refugees. Nobody in the Middle East is doing anything. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait - all the Gulf nations are doing nothing.