Saving Ourselves From Self-Destruction (2004)
Context: We must abandon the unworkable notion that it is morally reprehensible for some countries to pursue weapons of mass destruction yet morally acceptable for others to rely on them for security — and indeed to continue to refine their capacities and postulate plans for their use.
Similarly, we must abandon the traditional approach of defining security in terms of boundaries — city walls, border patrols, racial and religious groupings. The global community has become irreversibly interdependent, with the constant movement of people, ideas, goods and resources. In such a world, we must combat terrorism with an infectious security culture that crosses borders — an inclusive approach to security based on solidarity and the value of human life. In such a world, weapons of mass destruction have no place.
“Have we not been able to cross the threshold of mistrust, though mistrust has not completely disappeared? Has not the political thinking in the world changed substantially? Does not most of the world community already regard weapons of mass destruction as unacceptable for achieving political objectives?”
Nobel Address (1991)
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Mikhail Gorbachev 65
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 1931Related quotes
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Le Monde Diplomatique (August 2000) " Ideas Are Also Weapons http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Mexico/Ideas_weapons.html"
Hansard HC 6ser vol 390 col 43 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020924/debtext/20924-12.htm#20924-12_spnew1.
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As quoted in "The Bottom Line – Observations from Iraqi Freedom" http://www.jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/Iraqreport.html (4 May 2006), Chaos Manor Special Reports
1963, Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty speech
Source: Wu Cherng-dean (2018) cited in " 6 Km From China, Taiwan's Kinmen Charts Its Own Path https://thediplomat.com/2018/09/6-km-from-china-taiwans-kinmen-charts-its-own-path/" on The Diplomat, 4 September 2018.