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An alliance is like a chain. It is not made stronger by adding weak links to it. A great power like the United States gains no advantage and it loses prestige by offering, indeed peddling, its alliances to all and sundry. An alliance should be hard diplomatic currency, valuable and hard to get, and not inflationary paper from the mimeograph machine in the State Department.
Walter Lippmann
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Strong alliances require quality partners rather than numerous weak ones.

This quote emphasizes that the strength of alliances depends on the quality and capability of the partners involved. It suggests that offering alliances too freely can diminish their value and diminish a nation's prestige, advocating for a more selective and strategic approach to forming partnerships in international relations.

Themes

AllianceStrengthQualityDiplomacyPrestige

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech at a summit about international relations.

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