It would be, in fact, very ominous if Iraq were to be able to get weapon-usable material, hydro-plutonium or highly enriched uranium from abroad.
Mohamed ElbaradeiRead
People talk about smart sanctions and crippling sanctions. I've never seen smart sanctions, and crippling sanctions cripple everyone, including innocent civilians, and make the government more popular.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Sanctions often harm innocent people while failing to effectively target the intended government or entities.
In this quote, Mohamed ElBaradei critiques the concept of sanctions as a tool for achieving political goals. He argues that rather than being 'smart' or effective, sanctions tend to have a broad and damaging impact on the civilian population, ultimately strengthening the very governments they aim to undermine. This highlights the moral implications and unintended consequences of such measures in international relations.
Themes
SanctionsPoliticsCivilian ImpactGovernmentInnocence
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about international relations, one might quote this to highlight the negative effects of sanctions on innocent populations.
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Psychology is as important as substance. If you treat people with respect, they will go out of their way to accommodate you. If you treat them in a patronizing way, they will go out of their way to make your life difficult.
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