Today's headlines and history's judgment are rarely the same.
Condoleezza RiceRead
Let me let you in on a little secret. There is no such thing as an international community. There are self-maximizing, self-interested states that will push their interests as far as possible.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote challenges the notion of a united global community, emphasizing that states prioritize their own interests.
Condoleezza Rice's quote suggests that the idea of an international community is misleading. Instead of a harmonious global cooperation, nations act primarily out of self-interest, striving to maximize their own power and influence without regard for collective well-being. This perspective reveals the competitive nature of international relations, where states prioritize their goals and agendas above the concept of global unity.
Themes
InternationalSelf-InterestStatesPowerCompetition
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about global diplomacy, one could use this quote to illustrate the challenges of cooperation between countries.
More from Condoleezza Rice
All quotes →I think my father thought I might be president of the United States. I think he would've been satisfied with secretary of state. I'm a foreign policy person and to have a chance to serve my country as the nation's chief diplomat at a time of peril and consequence, that was enough.
Condoleezza RiceRead
What the United States has done is to be open to people who are fleeing tyranny, who are fleeing danger, but we have done it in a very careful way that has worked for us.
Condoleezza RiceRead
For the United States, supporting international development is more than just an expression of our compassion. It is a vital investment in the free, prosperous, and peaceful international order that fundamentally serves our national interest.
Condoleezza RiceRead
Today's headlines and history's judgment are rarely the same. If you are too attentive to the former, you will most certainly not do the hard work of securing the latter.
Condoleezza RiceRead
Does anybody think these people were just sitting around drinking tea?
Condoleezza RiceRead
Similar quotes
President Bush has asserted the right to wiretap and eavesdrop on any American without a warrant in the name of fighting terrorism. He has asserted presidential power beyond stated constitutional rights, and there is no Republican gutsy enough to call his hand.
Helen ThomasRead
We are the most powerful nation on earth. No external power, no terrorist organization can defeat us. But we can defeat ourselves by getting caught in a quagmire.
George SorosRead
Political reform need not go hand in hand with economic liberalization.. I hold unconventional views about this.. I do not believe if you are a libertarian, full of diverse opinions, full of competing ideas in the market place, full of sound and fury, therefore you will succeed.
Lee Kuan YewRead
...the first step in the revolution by the working class, is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class, to win the battle for democracy.
Karl MarxRead
Optimism comes less easily today, not because democracy is less vigorous, but because democracy's enemies have refined their instruments of repression.
Ronald ReaganRead
We have been taught to regard a representative of the people as a sentinel on the watch-tower of liberty.
Daniel WebsterRead