“Europe is an economic giant, a political dwarf, and a military worm.”

—  Mark Eyskens

As quoted by Craig R. Whitney in WAR IN THE GULF: EUROPE; Gulf Fighting Shatters Europeans' Fragile Unity, The New York Times, January 25th, 1991. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/25/world/war-in-the-gulf-europe-gulf-fighting-shatters-europeans-fragile-unity.html?pagewanted=1
This phrase was pronounced in January 1991, a few days before the beginning of Desert Storm, while Eyskens was the Foreign Minister of Belgium.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Europe is an economic giant, a political dwarf, and a military worm." by Mark Eyskens?
Mark Eyskens photo
Mark Eyskens 2
Belgian politician 1933

Related quotes

Jacques Delors photo

“Europe is a commercial giant and an economic power of the first rank, but it is a political dwarf. Political cooperation in the Community will grow. The question is whether the supply services will follow.”

Jacques Delors (1925) French economist and politician

Speech to the press (3 December 1980), quoted in The Times (4 December 1980), p. 5
Member of the European Parliament

Frits Bolkestein photo

“The USA will remain the only superpower. China is becoming an economic giant. Europe is being Islamicized.”

Frits Bolkestein (1933) Dutch politician

Address at the opening of courses at the University of Leiden (2004), as quoted in "Islamic Europe?" http://web.archive.org/web/20041010004408/http://www.theweeklystandard.com:80/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/685ozxcq.asp (4 October 2004), by Christopher Caldwell, The Weekly Standard
2000s

George Herbert photo

“A dwarf on a giant's shoulders sees farther of the two.”

George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh-born English poet, orator and Anglican priest

Jacula Prudentum (1651)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge photo

“The Dwarf sees farther than the Giant, when he has the Giant's shoulders to mount on.”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English poet, literary critic and philosopher

The Friend; A Series of Essays (1812), No. 15 (30 November 1809), p. 228
Cf. Isaac Newton, letter to Robert Hooke (15 February 1676): "If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants".

Robert Burton photo

“I say with Didacus Stella, a dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than a giant himself.”

The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621), Democritus Junior to the Reader

Wilkie Collins photo
C. Wright Mills photo
Terry Pratchett photo
Jean Monnet photo

“There will be no peace in Europe if the States rebuild themselves on the basis of national sovereignty, with its implications of prestige politics and economic protection….”

Jean Monnet (1888–1979) French political economist regarded by many as a chief architect of European unity

Speech to the French National Liberation Committee (5 August 1943)
Jean Monnet 1888-1979
Context: There will be no peace in Europe if the States rebuild themselves on the basis of national sovereignty, with its implications of prestige politics and economic protection…. The countries of Europe are not strong enough individually to be able to guarantee prosperity and social development for their peoples. The States of Europe must therefore form a federation or a European entity that would make them into a common economic unit.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee photo

“Unfortunately, we live in an age of political dwarfs, political managers without vision or courage. But their time is running out.”

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018) 10th Prime Minister of India

Vajpayee interviewed by Erich Follath and Tiziano Terzani: “Guru der Nationen”, Der Spiegel, 1996/19, p. 163. quoted from Elst, Koenraad (2001). Decolonizing the Hindu mind: Ideological development of Hindu revivalism. New Delhi: Rupa. p.168
Context: We, the Indians, as Guru of the Nations: yes, I believe in that. We can be—or once more become— the hope of mankind. But that requires efforts and courage to be ourselves culturally. Unfortunately, we live in an age of political dwarfs, political managers without vision or courage. But their time is running out.

Related topics