At least from a national security standpoint, none of the problems the U.S. and U.K. face will become easier to solve if the U.K. is out of the E.U.; on the contrary, I fear that a 'Brexit' would only make our world even more dangerous and difficult to manage.
Interpretation
Brexit will exacerbate national security challenges for the U.S. and U.K.
David Petraeus emphasizes that leaving the European Union would not alleviate the security issues faced by the U.S. and the U.K.; rather, it would likely complicate these problems further. His concern is that Brexit could lead to a more perilous and unmanageable global situation, indicating the interconnectedness of political decisions and national security.
In practice
In a discussion about international policy, one might reference Petraeus's quote to highlight the risks of isolationism.
There is nothing I can do to undo what I did. I can only say again how sorry I am to those I let down and then strive to go forward with a greater sense of humility and purpose, and with gratitude to those who stood with me during a very difficult chapter in my life.
I considered our British comrades to rank with the finest men and women of any armed service in the world. And I know that my fellow American soldiers - and those of the other coalition countries under my command - valued very highly the professional expertise, capability, courage, and determination of our British partners on the battlefield.
In the 101st Airborne Division headquarters in Mosul, we had a sign on the wall. It was a question that we would ask ourselves before every new operation or policy initiative. It asked: Will this policy or operation take more bad guys off the streets than it creates by its conduct?
The idea is to go to bed every night with fewer enemies than you had in the morning.
We periodically note that there are no silver bullets, there are no magic formulas, there's no single action or component of the overall... comprehensive civil-military approach.
When Western politicians propose blanket discrimination against Islam, they bolster the terrorists' propaganda.
Whenever you put a man on the Supreme Court he ceases to be your friend.
I think maybe the people in elected positions are more interested in preserving their jobs than in doing the best job possible.
The best defence [for a democracy, for the public good] is aggressiveness, the aggressiveness of the involved citizen. We need to reassert that slow, time-consuming, inefficient, boring process that requires our involvement; it is called 'being a citizen.' The public good is not something that you can see. It is not static. It is a process. It is the process by which democratic civilizations build themselves.
One of the most pervasive political visions of our time is the vision of liberals as compassionate and conservatives as less caring.
Controversial disputes are a part of democratic culture.
If the Queen can reject the advice of a minister on a little thing like a postage stamp, what would happen if she rejected the advice of the Prime Minister on a major matter? If the Crown personally can reject advice, then, of course, the whole democratic facade turns out to be false
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