“In short, unbalanced bipolar systems are so unstable that they cannot last for any appreciable period of time.”
Source: The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (2001), Chapter 9, The Causes of Great Power War, p. 337
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
John Mearsheimer32
American political scientist 1947Related quotes
John McCain (1936–2018) politician from the United States
In Republican presidential debate, Orlando, Florida, 21 October 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/us/politics/21debate-transcript.html?pagewanted=3 <br class="br">2000s, 2007
“Life is just a short period of time in which you are alive.”
Philip Roth book American Pastoral
Source: American Pastoral
“I'd like to get a lot done in a short period of time.”
Tom Crean (basketball coach) (1966) American college basketball coach
As quoted in "Crean on : rebuilding the tradition of Indiana basketball" by David Burkart in IUplanet Newsletter (7 October 2007) http://iuplanet.com/forum/indiana-basketball-news/20261-crean-rebuilding-tradition-indiana-basketball.html <br class="br">Context: I'd like to get a lot done in a short period of time.... Your head coach won’t be real patient. Trying to keep it in perspective? Yes. Real patient? No.
Zbigniew Brzeziński (1928–2017) Polish-American political scientist
PBS NewsHour, October 26, 2006 PBS Newshour http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec06/iraq_10-25.html (2006). On the "benchmarks" used by George W. Bush.
James Boswell book The Life of Samuel Johnson
October 26, 1769, p. 174
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol II
Source: The Life of Samuel Johnson
Wilhelm Stekel (1868–1940) Austrian physician and psychologist
Source: The Autobiography of Wilhelm Stekel (1950), p. 132
Russell L. Ackoff (1919–2009) Scientist
Ackoff (1999, p. 34) cited in: Michael C. Jackson (2000) Systems Approaches to Management. p. 234.
1990s
“Hence buildings made of these kinds of wood last for an unending period of time.”
Vitruvius book De architectura
Source: De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (~ 15BC), Book II, Chapter IX, Sec. 12
Context: The hornbeam... is not a wood that breaks easily and is very convenient to handle. Hence the Greeks call it "zygia," because they make of it yokes for their draught animals... Cypress and pine are also just as admirable; for although they... are apt to warp when used in buildings... they can be kept to a great age without rotting because the liquid contained within their substances has a bitter taste which by its pungency prevents the entrance of decay or of those little creatures which are destructive. Hence buildings made of these kinds of wood last for an unending period of time.
Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American economist, statistician, and writer
As quoted in The Money Masters (1995)