Ben Rhodes Quotes

America has lost the moral high ground with the rest of the world, and we have fewer allies as a result. President Bush and his administration have undermined the war on terror by using tactics outlawed by international treaty and condemned by even our closest friends.

Well, I think the United States first of all has to recognize the world for what it is.

I don’t talk to countries that exhibit bad behavior.

The diplomatic relations upon which our present system of international comity is based are being encountered by new forces and combinations which are fast rendering them impotent and antiquated

Hillary Clinton and John Kerry have left the U.S. with better relations with Iran and Cuba and worse relations with allies like Israel.

To his credit, Obama has undertaken a truly ambitious effort to redefine the United States' view of the world and to reconnect the United States with the emerging historical context of the twenty-first century. He has done this remarkably well.

We can't give the impression to our allies or friends in Asia that because the president is against TPP... that therefore, economically, we're going to pull away from Asia.

Trade accords had been a staple of the post-World War II world, providing a mechanism for economic growth, development, and association with friends and allies, and a means of reining in would-be adversaries who otherwise would have little incentive to act with restraint.

Ever since Barack Obama had become president, the main policy of the U.S. government toward Russia had been one of appeasement.

The administration has taken its inexcusable apathy a step further, declaring that even abiding by the few token sanctions in place isn't truly necessary, as evidenced by the now 20 countries to which the Obama administration has granted waivers to continue doing business with Iran.

Our Cuba policy was a major obstacle to getting things done in the hemisphere and a source of tension around the world.

One of the things you learn in government is there's a long tail to American decision-making when it comes to foreign policy. Moving the embassy to Jerusalem, pulling out of the Iran deal, pulling out of Paris, not speaking up for democratic values - the world doesn't end the next day.

The American people are not naifs who yearn for isolationism, but they are starting to ask some hard questions about the way we have been doing business for 50 years, and it may well be time to grant the French, Canadians, Germans, Turks, South Koreans, and a host of others their wishes for independence from us: polite friendship - but no alliances, no bases, no money, no trade concessions, and no more begging for the privilege of protecting them.

These actions were taken with the support and financing of the United States. How can you say this is part of U.S. adherence to international law and U.N. resolutions? The result is a kind of schizophrenic picture of the United States.

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

There's been a deliberate and systematic effort to convey to countries around the world, friends and foes, that if they cross the United States there's a price to pay.

If you make a treaty first with the United States and settle the matter of the opium trade, England cannot change this, though she should desire to do so.

With respect to Euro-Atlantic integration, we have to realize that we need to normalize the relationships with our neighbors, and especially with Russia.

China has been committed to the independent foreign policy of peace and has developed friendship and cooperation with all countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.

In the United States, there is a broadly shared view that the U.N. is one of many potential instruments to advance U.S. issues, and we have to decide whether a particular issue is best done through the U.N. or best done through some other mechanism.

Whatever one thinks of President George W. Bush and his unilateralist crew, most of the people laughing at us do not think we are evil. What they think is that we are naive and incompetent.

Our relations with the other powers of Europe have experienced no essential change since the last session.

A great nation like the United States has many and varied interests, and we need both to do business with tyrants and to engage constantly in multilateral diplomacy.

I'm sorry that I can't snap my fingers and undo 50 years of bad American foreign policy.

No American soldier should be allowed to set foot on Iranian soil, regardless of the criticism we have of the Iranian government.