Alliance Dynamics Quotes

The ministers and the Jacobins are making the king declare war tomorrow on Austria. The ministers are hoping that this move will frighten the Austrians and that within three weeks we will be negotiating (God forbid that this should happen). May we at last be avenged for all the outrages we have suffered from this country!

For a sitting U.S. president to see our allies as freeloaders is nuts.

Not everybody in the world who is an opponent of our opponent is necessarily going to be a friend of ours.

The youth of the ANC, ever since 1944 when it was established, has been very vocal. It has made suggestions on things so that, at times, old people said, 'What are you doing?' That is its nature. Alliance partners, they have always raised issues. In fact, that is what brings vibrancy in the alliance. People misread that as huge fights.

I believe that we should take every opportunity to challenge the assumption that our European allies are doing us a favor whenever they provide us with the necessary facilities from which to defend their own continent.

Turkish-American relations are based on very strong foundations. Currently, we have a war in the region, which could not be prevented, unfortunately. We hope it is a short war ... with minimum casualties.

There is a lot of juggling between NATO commitment and domestic politics in most countries [belonging to NATO.]

I don't think there is an implicit obligation for the United States to follow like a stupid mule whatever the Israelis do. If they decide to start a war, simply on the assumption that we will be automatically drawn into it, I think it is the obligation of friendship to say "you're not going to be making national decisions for us"

When America does not lead, the world is a dangerous and a tragic place. This is a bad deal. [Barack] Obama broke every rule of negotiation.Yes, our allies are not perfect, but Iran is at the heart of most of the evil that is going on in the Middle East through their proxy.

How can we be isolating ourselves when it's 16 to 3 in NATO for what we want to do?

The allies we gain by victory will turn against us upon the bare whisper of our defeat.

Allies never trust each other, but that doesn't spoil their effectiveness.

In a mahagathabandhan, who will use whom and who will trip whom is not clear.

It is important not to allow ever wider coalition-building to become an end in itself. As we saw in the Gulf War of 1990, international pressures, particularly those exerted from within an alliance, can result in the failure to follow actions through and so leave future problems unresolved.

The US is our trading partner, our neighbour, our ally and our friend... and sometimes we'd like to give them such a smack!

For decades, Turkey was widely viewed as a reliable NATO ally: prickly at times, but safely in America's corner.

When Iran continues to get away with bad behavior, what do our allies who are Iran's enemies think about us? It is why we cannot stand by while Russia allies itself with Iran. You can't outsource American leadership to Russia. Russia isn't on our side. They're on their side and Iran's side.

The EU is an alliance that the Americans control, in which the EU of course has a great deal of autonomy, but in which it still is very dependent on the United States, especially militarily, but not only in that respect. So to blame the Germans for everything is an easy way out for some of those suffering in Europe today.