International Relations Quotes

“This is the great new problem of mankind. We have inherited a large house, a great “world house” in which we have to live together—black and white, Easterner and Westerner, Gentile and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, Muslim and Hindu—a family unduly separated in ideas, culture and interest, who, because we can never again live apart, must learn somehow to live with each other in peace.

However deeply American Negroes are caught in the struggle to be at last at home in our homeland of the United States, we cannot ignore the larger world house in which we are also dwellers. Equality with whites will not solve the problems of either whites or Negroes if it means equality in a world society stricken by poverty and in a universe doomed to extinction by war.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?

“The aid program that I am suggesting must not be used by the wealthy nations as a surreptitious means to control the poor nations. Such an approach would lead to a new form of paternalism and a neocolonialism which no self-respecting nation could accept. Ultimately, foreign aid programs must be motivated by a compassionate and committed effort to wipe poverty, ignorance and disease from the face of the earth. Money devoid of genuine empathy is like salt devoid of savor, good for nothing except to be trodden under foot of men.

The West must enter into the program with humility and penitence and a sober realization that everything will not always “go our way.” It cannot be forgotten that the Western powers were but yesterday the colonial masters. The house of the West is far from in order, and its hands are far from clean.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?

“The identification we feel towards the places where we live or were born can give us an anchor in a chaotic world and strengthen our connections to family, community, and the generations that preceded and will follow us. At their best, such feelings are a celebration of culture and all that comes with it in the form of literature, language, music, food, folktales, and even the wildlife we associate with our homelands--the eagle in America, for instance, or in the Czech Republic what's left of our lions, wolves, and bears.

There is, however, a tipping point, where loyalty to one's own tribe curdles into resentment and hatred, then aggression towards others. That's when Fascism enters the picture, trailed by an assortment of woes, up to and including the Holocaust and global war. Because of that history, postwar statesmen established organizations to make it harder for deluded nationalists to trample on the rights of neighbors. These bodies include the United Nations--hence Truman's speech--and regional institutions in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas.”
― Madeleine K. Albright, Fascism: A Warning

“Some make bombs for domination,
Some make bombs for survival.
Either way someone pushes a button,
Innocents wind up dead as collateral.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“Whatever equilibrium your nation reaches, there is always someone, at home or abroad, who has reasons to upset it.”
― Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

“Riotte fought to keep the Zeitung and free-state effort alive, but like Douai he was worn down by foes who "vomit fire and poison against me." Rather than "act the part of Sisiphus," he planned to found a new German colony in northern Mexico to "build up a more solid wall against slavery" than was possible in the US,

In his letters to Olmsted, Riotte also delineated, with keen transatlantic insight, a divide that he felt had doomed their efforts from the start. "We are judged from the standpoint of an American-indeed a very strange people!" he wrote.

Riotte and his ilk viewed society "as a congregation of men, whose aim it is to elevate the wellbeing of the aggregate by the combined exertion." Americans, by contrast, "look first upon themselves as private individuals, entitled to ask for all the rights and benefits of an organized community even to the detriment of the whole.... We idealize the community-you the individual! How is it possible, that we ever should amalgamate?"

Riotte closed by praising Olmsted's writing on the South but expressed doubt that it would diminish the Slave Power. "I don't know of any historical record of an Aristocracy giving up their privileges, except in the case of revolutionary pressure.”
― Tony Horwitz, Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide

“Racism is no mere American phenomenon. Its vicious grasp knows no geographical boundaries. In fact, racism and its perennial ally—economic exploitation—provide the key to understanding most of the international complications of this generation.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?

“There is the convenient temptation to attribute the current turmoil and bitterness throughout the world to the presence of a Communist conspiracy to undermine Europe and America, but the potential explosiveness of our world situation is much more attributable to disillusionment with the promises of Christianity and technology.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?

“There is no such thing as a modern planet with hundreds of nations. A modern planet is one nation, if not, it's not modern, but medieval.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Mucize Misafir Merhaba: The Peace Testament

“Soldiers can eliminate terrorists, but only civilians can end terrorism - civilians who are responsible - civilians who are human first, and citizens of their nation second, if not never.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Mucize Misafir Merhaba: The Peace Testament

“Even the mighty sun doesn't differentiate between first world and third world humanity. It is only the lowly beings who can't help but practice some good old exclusivity.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Mucize Misafir Merhaba: The Peace Testament

“Attending peace conference to represent a nation, is like attending freedom conference to represent a prison.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“The varieties of skullduggery which make up the repertoire of the totalitarian government are just about as unlimited as human ingenuity itself, and just about as unpleasant. For, as you know, no holds are barred. There are no rules of the game. They can do anything that they think is in their interests.”
― George F. Kennan

“Neighbors before ancestors.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Mukemmel Musalman: Kafir Biraz, Peygamber Biraz

“Be the proof of integration,
Against all caution ancestral.
Those who peddle division belong,
In a sanitarium, not on a pedestal.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Mukemmel Musalman: Kafir Biraz, Peygamber Biraz

“Esperanza Impossible Sonnet 10

Nationality is not the trouble, real trouble is nationalism,
And nationalism is the super weapon in a politician's arsenal.
When nothing works, peddling nationalism works every time,
For insecure citizenry can't tell nationality from nationalism.
So in practice, all the wars of the world are caused by citizens,
But it feels good to blame the bad things on politicians.
Once the citizens grow up to not be swayed by nationalism,
No authoritarian nincompoop can make them dance.
Nationality is a tool, what it is not is a badge of supremacy,
Just like culture is a tool, and not a badge of authority.
If we must dance, let us dance to life, not to baseless fright,
If we must take a step, let's take a step towards humanity.
Borders exist to aid the functioning of the fabric of society.
They are not some olympian designation of your identity.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“Nationalism is the greatest threat to peace.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Yarasistan: My Wounds, My Crown

“India will resist a hierarchical order in Asia and a world dominated by China.”
― Shyam Saran, How China Sees India and the World

“When India and China became, for the first time in history, next-door neighbours after China’s occupation of Tibet in 1950, neither country had any close familiarity with the other.”
― Shyam Saran, How China Sees India and the World

“Peace is an act of civic duty, not a task for the world leaders.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Yarasistan: My Wounds, My Crown

“If you are to be human, rejecting the society's rampant psychosis of nationalism, you are bound to become an object of an insane amount of hate. The west will hate you for meddling without citizenship, the east will hate you for being a traitor, or vice versa. Despite all this unbearable hate if you can uphold your humanity with a smile, then - you shall be human - then, you shall be an armor of the world.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Her Insan Ailem: Everyone is Family, Everywhere is Home

“A world that justifies arms race as necessary evil, rightfully deserves all the evil of war it is racked with.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Centurion Sermon: Mental Por El Mundo

“Moronation Street (Sonnet 1013)

Nationalism is modern cannibalism,
As such nationalism is terrorism.
Royalty is an act of crime,
Obsessive Bloodline Disorder is clinical barbarism.
Character and excellence are the measure of life,
Not some cavemen constructs of blood and borders.
When the I disappears and the world appears,
That's when the animal disappears and the human appears.
Fundamentalism is the antithesis of religion,
For religion oughta bring inclusion not division.
Nationalism is the desecration of a nation's humane identity,
Each nation's security is predicated on collective ascension.
Enough with the coronation of morons -
enough with moronation!
Beyond blood and border await the streets of civilization.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Centurion Sermon: Mental Por El Mundo

“When the world is well, nation is well, while the sickness of national security makes the whole world unwell.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Centurion Sermon: Mental Por El Mundo

“Focus on the world beyond the squabbles of tribe, and you shall finally learn, what is human life.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Centurion Sermon: Mental Por El Mundo

“Diplomacy is the precursor of globalization, fortified foreign policies, and international relations. Diplomacy is an art, performed with dexterity. It is the art of negotiating important issues concerning governments. International affairs, law, and diplomacy are siblings. The development of international law requires diplomacy. Thereby it is said that international law and diplomacy are interconnected and interdependent. Nations have strengthened their ties with the aid of diplomacy. It aids in advancing foreign policies. Diplomats orchestrate plans and strategies in their prudence to enhance international political relations, thus fortifying concrete international diplomatic ties between nations. Professional diplomats intervene, study, and resolve any conflicting matters that may come to the fore including matters that may relate to trade, commerce, international relations, human rights, etc. Diplomats gather information, study it, represent and further the country's interest, and thereby invariably even contribute towards shaping the thoughts of the country they represent to a certain extent, either politically or economically. However, at times it cannot be denied that diplomacy and international law stand in rivalry and are incompatible. Hollow diplomacy may lead to a domino effect which means with the removal of one card the entire pack of cards collapses, likewise, when one government collapses, the other leaning governments fall as well. Such imprudence must be avoided at all costs, thereby calling for specially qualified diplomats to handle such a role with strategic protocols on behalf of a nation.”
― Henrietta Newton Martin - Legal Counsel & Author- International Law And Diplomacy

“When the whole world is our own - when every neighborhood, every street, every block, every park, pavement and pastor is our own, that's when peace will pour out into the world through every word we speak, every hand we lend, every path we take.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Her Insan Ailem: Everyone is Family, Everywhere is Home

“World first, nation second.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Her Insan Ailem: Everyone is Family, Everywhere is Home

“What kind of a moron thinks that a nation grows great by developing the military capacity to destroy another nation!”
― Abhijit Naskar, Her Insan Ailem: Everyone is Family, Everywhere is Home

“What kind of a moron thinks that a nation grows great by developing the military capacity to destroy another nation! Yet that is the first thing you think of when you hear the term of patriotism. It's time we rise above these outdated notions and customs, and learn to find home in people, not places – in beings, not borders.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Her Insan Ailem: Everyone is Family, Everywhere is Home