I refuse to be part of an effort to legitimize an alternate narrative that the Ukrainian government is a U.S. adversary, and that Ukraine - not Russia - attacked us in 2016.
Fiona HillRead
The Russians didn't invent partisan divides. The Russians haven't invented racism in the United States. But the Russians understand a lot of those divisions and they understand how to exploit them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights that while divisions and racism are not new phenomena, they can be manipulated by external forces to sow discord.
Fiona Hill's quote suggests that the divisions in society, such as partisan politics and racial tensions, are not products of external influence but rather existing issues. However, she emphasizes that certain external entities, like the Russians, are adept at recognizing and exploiting these societal fractures to their advantage, making it crucial for society to be aware of both its internal challenges and the risks posed by outside manipulation.
Themes
DivisionPoliticsManipulationRacismExternal Influence
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a political debate to emphasize the importance of recognizing external influences on internal divisions.
More from Fiona Hill
All quotes →I grew up poor with a very distinctive working-class accent. In England in the 1980s and 1990s this would have impeded my professional advancement. This background has never set me back in America.
Fiona HillRead
Everybody used to talk about Chechnya as a place, in the Russian imperial and Soviet periods, that was essentially governed by extended family and regional networks that substituted for older clan structures. But those networks have been destroyed.
Fiona HillRead
Because the more you engage with someone who is spreading untruths, the more validity you give to those untruths.
Fiona HillRead
Similar quotes
We can't win at somebody else's expense. We can only fully be satisfied when the other person's needs are fulfilled as well as our own.
Marshall B. RosenbergRead
Homosexuality is like the weather. It just is.
Andrew SullivanRead
There are moments when the heart is generous, and then it knows that for better or worse our lives are woven together here, one with one another and with the place and all the living things.
Wendell BerryRead
When you stay in your room and rage or sneer or shrug your shoulders, as I did for many years, the world and its problems are impossibly daunting. But when you go out and put yourself in real relation to real people, or even just real animals, there’s a very real danger that you might end up loving some of them. And who knows what might happen to you then?
Jonathan FranzenRead
Networking is extremely masculine. It's a vulnerable thing to admit to, but even I experience feeling super insecure around certain masculine meetings. So, we put women in control. Women will make the first move on Bumble Bizz as well.
Whitney Wolfe HerdRead
I hated hurting him. Most of the time, I could forget about it, but the inexorable truth is this: They might be glad to have me around, but I was the alpha and the omega of my parents' suffering.
John GreenRead