The action we take and the decisions we make in this decade will have consequences far into this century. If America shows weakness and uncertainty, the world will drift toward tragedy. That will not happen on my watch.
George W. BushRead
Are the peoples of the Middle East somehow beyond the reach of liberty? Are millions of men and women and children condemned by history or culture to live in despotism? Are they alone never to know freedom and never even to have a choice in the matter?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote questions the idea that people in the Middle East are destined to live without freedom.
George W. Bush's quote reflects a deep concern regarding the perception that the people of the Middle East are fated to live under oppressive regimes, stripped of their freedom and choices. It challenges the notion that cultural or historical factors can permanently deny a population the fundamental human right to liberty, invoking a sense of urgency for the global community to recognize and act against such despotism.
Themes
FreedomLibertyDespotismHuman RightsMiddle EastPolitics
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in discussions about human rights initiatives in the Middle East.
More from George W. Bush
All quotes →Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger.
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We are not deceived by their pretenses to piety. We have seen their kind before. They are the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions - by abandoning every value except the will to power - they follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism, and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way, to where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies.
George W. BushRead
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