A new progressive internationalism (17 June 2016)
Context: President Assad dropped chemical weapons on school children and the world stood by. He rained down barrel bombs and cluster munitions on hospitals and homes and we did not respond. For too long, the UK government let the crisis fester on the ‘too difficult to deal with’ pile. There was no credible strategy, nor courage or leadership – instead we had chaos and incoherence, interspersed with the occasional gesture. It’s been a masterclass in how not to do foreign policy and a shameful lesson on what happens when you ignore a crisis of this magnitude.
“Occasionally, it might be a good idea to be honest about American foreign policy.”
Bernie Sanders (1941) American politician, senator for Vermont
South Carolina democratic debate (25 February 2020), as quoted in CNN https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/2020-democratic-debate-south-carolina/h_2a3e527ba81bbe6e29e555687c031939 <br class="br">2010s, 2020
Jill Stein (1950) American politician and physician
"Making the Wars for Oil Obsolete," May 22, 2016 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd6gLKkaBD4
Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America
2010s, 2016, April, Foreign Policy Speech (27 April 2016)
“As long as this bill hangs over our heads there is no credibility in what people in leadership do.”
Frank Bainimarama (1954) Prime Minister of Fiji
2000, Reaction to calls from Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer for the Military to stay out of politics (30 September 2005)
Scott Lynch book The Republic of Thieves
Source: The Republic of Thieves (2013), Chapter 1 “Things Get Worse” section 11 (p. 65)
Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America
2010s, 2016, December <br class="br">Source: Speaking at U.S. Bank Arena, as reported by Washington Examiner, December 1, 2016 http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trumps-new-foreign-policy-we-will-stop-looking-to-topple-regimes/article/2608687
Henry Kissinger (1923–2023) United States Secretary of State
Source: "Reflections on Containment", Foreign Affairs, Vol. 73, No. 3 (June 1994), p. 130
Norman Schwarzkopf (1934–2012) United States Army general
Quoted in "The Military Quotation Book" (2002) by James Charlton, p. 83
Disputed
“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results”
Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Attribution debunked by Langworth.
Misattributed
Source: Published by Richard Langworth online: https://richardlangworth.com/quotes
