Today's headlines and history's judgment are rarely the same.
Condoleezza RiceRead
Let me let you in on a little secret. There is no such thing as an international community. There are self-maximizing, self-interested states that will push their interests as far as possible.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote challenges the notion of a united global community, emphasizing that states prioritize their own interests.
Condoleezza Rice's quote suggests that the idea of an international community is misleading. Instead of a harmonious global cooperation, nations act primarily out of self-interest, striving to maximize their own power and influence without regard for collective well-being. This perspective reveals the competitive nature of international relations, where states prioritize their goals and agendas above the concept of global unity.
Themes
InternationalSelf-InterestStatesPowerCompetition
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about global diplomacy, one could use this quote to illustrate the challenges of cooperation between countries.
More from Condoleezza Rice
All quotes →I think my father thought I might be president of the United States. I think he would've been satisfied with secretary of state. I'm a foreign policy person and to have a chance to serve my country as the nation's chief diplomat at a time of peril and consequence, that was enough.
Condoleezza RiceRead
What the United States has done is to be open to people who are fleeing tyranny, who are fleeing danger, but we have done it in a very careful way that has worked for us.
Condoleezza RiceRead
For the United States, supporting international development is more than just an expression of our compassion. It is a vital investment in the free, prosperous, and peaceful international order that fundamentally serves our national interest.
Condoleezza RiceRead
Today's headlines and history's judgment are rarely the same. If you are too attentive to the former, you will most certainly not do the hard work of securing the latter.
Condoleezza RiceRead
Does anybody think these people were just sitting around drinking tea?
Condoleezza RiceRead
Similar quotes
We need to learn to work with political systems that are not perfect instead of taking the view: let's first fix the politics, then we'll fix the rest.
Abhijit BanerjeeRead
In America, there's a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.
Barack ObamaRead
The Oslo Accords in 1993 determined that the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are a single territorial entity which cannot be divided. Immediately, the United States and Israel set about separating the two and making sure that they would not be united.
Noam ChomskyRead
I wish it were simply a nightmare, but I think that any reasonable person watching American politics would come to the conclusion that a second Bush administration would in fact incorporate a more radicalized version of what we've seen in the first administration.
Robert ReichRead
The rules and reasons the political system employs to enforce status relations of any kind, including racial hierarchy, evolve and change as they are challenged.
Michelle AlexanderRead
Lifting the veil of secrecy that shrouds police misconduct allegations would seem like an obvious democratic value. After all, if police work for the people, should they not be answerable to the people, as well? This is a basic tenet of good government.
Maya WileyRead