John F. Kennedy Quotes

The notion that the UN is some sort of dispassionate body that, “does right” and just pursues everybody’s best interests is a fantasy. Each individual nation will be pursuing their best interests. That’s the normal behavior of nation-states. It shouldn’t surprise us, but neither should we go to them for permission to do what’s in our national interests.

What's happening in Russia of course is you have a country watching out for its national interest.

The reputation of those countries which cater to the foreign policy interests of other states at the expense of their own national interests will go down regardless of how they explain their actions.

But the same intelligence compels Germany to practise the same policy.

No nation has friends only interests.

The pursuit of one's own interest seems to be the rule for international relations, without the common good of humanity being taken into consideration.

The simple fact about alliances is that different nations have their own interests.

The policy of the United States does not flow from transitory considerations.

The foreign policy of Czechoslovakia must be first of all a Czechoslovak, then a European, and then a world policy.

I don't believe foreign policy is about altruism.

China remains too important for America's national security to risk the relationship on the emotions of the moment.... No government in the world would have tolerated having the main square of its capital occupied by tens of thousands of demonstrators.

America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests

No American president will ever pay a political price for choosing national security over world opinion.

Even allies don’t share every single interest that you have. That’s a law of nature in the international system. They will tell you most of what you need to know but there may be some things that they don’t tell you that you need to know in order to formulate your policy as wisely as you can.

Israel never interferes in the domestic issues of any other country. It's not our matter; it's not our policy.

I'm not a fan in a rock concert, you see. I am a political leader in a great nation of the world. What interests me are France's interests.

My priority is to give the United States the kind of influence it should have.

I live in Europe and care about democracy and sovereignty of nation states there.

Bush doesn't present himself as a realpolitik politician.

You know, there's a real irony in U.S. assistance programs. First of all, I think it's misnamed. We're not so much trying to help people as we're trying to help ourselves. So let's be clear about this. So these are - in my view, they're cold calculations of national security and not aid programs.

Diplomacy is not an end in itself if it does not advance U.S. interests.

The United States has got to adopt a policy of befriending and creating allies around the world.

From 8,000 miles away... I would not judge a fellow soldier from a friendly nation and how they are employing their resources.

Unilateral preemption should not in any way be the model for how we conduct international relations.

Foreign policy is really domestic policy with its hat on.