Ben Rhodes Quotes

Tell people you're a Canadian or a Kiwi when you travel and they'll adore you.

One of the things I'm fascinated by as a traveler is watching how different countries control how they let the world encounter them.

Being a global ambassador is as much a responsibility as it is an honour.

England is very interested as well, and other countries if I could speak the languages!

My kids miss me when I'm away, but I don't mind living out of a suitcase. The U.K., U.S., France, Germany, Iraq... it's such a thrill meeting people of different cultures, learning about and from them. It's changed my perception about life, humanity and spirituality.

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

The historical ambivalence of the United States toward global engagement is a thread that runs through American history.

A Canadian on the ground in different parts of the world, whether they're a diplomat, an aid worker, or a soldier, has an extraordinary, powerful impact.

After university, I was desperate to be an ambassador. It went back to geography: I loved the idea of living in exotic and exciting countries, but still driving a Land Rover and having tea. I failed the Foreign Office exams three times.

Interventionism is inextricable from the American idea. If the United States retreats into isolationism, it ceases to be itself ? a nation dedicated, however much it falls short, to a universalist ideal of freedom.

We must travel; we must go to foreign parts. We must see how the engine of society works in other countries, and keep free and open communication with what is going on in the minds of other nations, if we really want to be a nation again.

This is my first opportunity to visit this part of North Africa, so I am going to be able to go back home and talk about this beautiful country and encourage Americans to travel here.

I would like to be the first ambassador to the United States from the United States.

The relationship between East and West needs to be and can be fixed via pop culture.

I'd like to be the ambassador to the Bahamas.

In 1983, all of us had U.S. passports, but because there was so much tension between America and the U.S.S.R., we were announced as a Canadian group.

Military officers from different countries, when they meet each other, tend to sort of fall in love, become mutual admiration societies, at the expense of realities.

And then I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to go to China in 1980, which was quite early.

I think it is important to help our country's image outside of Spain.

The more I see, hear, and think in Europe, the more I wish for every measure that can ensure to the United States dignity, power, and public confidence.

Sport allows us to engage in dialogue and to build bridges, and it may even have the capacity to reshape international relations. The Olympic Games embody perfectly this universal mission.

In America we have a Declaration of Independence, but our history, our advancements, our global strength all point to an American declaration of interdependence.

My view of foreign policy is that we need to be careful and circumspect about United States intervention in any foreign nation.

I think that Europeans in general have a more global view of the world because they are in such proximity to other countries that it enables them to travel and see other parts of the world.

There is one condition for us to have healthy relations with the United States. It's called respect.