I do a lot of work with policymakers, but how much effect am I having? It’s like they’re coming in and saying to you, ‘I’m going to drive my car off a cliff. Should I or should I not wear a seatbelt?’ And you say, ‘I don’t think you should drive your car off the cliff.’ And they say, ‘No, no, that bit’s already been decided—the question is whether to wear a seatbelt.’ And you say, ‘Well, you might as well wear a seatbelt.’ And then they say, ‘We’ve consulted with policy expert Rory Stewart and he says . . . .’
Change can only come from local citizens and politicians - it cannot be imposed by well-meaning foreigners - not least because a society like Afghani… - Rory Stewart
Change can only come from local citizens and politicians - it cannot be imposed by well-meaning foreigners - not least because a society like Afghani…
- Rory Stewart
The Afghan government is much better informed, much more intrusive and ambitious than I had guessed. There are amazing craftsmen in Kabul but few des… - Rory Stewart
The Afghan government is much better informed, much more intrusive and ambitious than I had guessed. There are amazing craftsmen in Kabul but few des…
Democracy is not simply a question of structures. It is a state of mind. It is an activity. - Rory Stewart
Democracy is not simply a question of structures. It is a state of mind. It is an activity.
I left things out - my motivations, my history, my emotional responses - because I am not good at understanding them or writing about them. I tried a… - Rory Stewart
I left things out - my motivations, my history, my emotional responses - because I am not good at understanding them or writing about them. I tried a…
I had been walking one afternoon in Scotland and thought: Why don't I just keep going? There was, I said, a magic in leaving a line of footprints str… - Rory Stewart
I had been walking one afternoon in Scotland and thought: Why don't I just keep going? There was, I said, a magic in leaving a line of footprints str…
The world isnt one way or another. Things can be changed very, very rapidly by someone with sufficient confidence, sufficient knowledge and sufficien… - Rory Stewart
The world isnt one way or another. Things can be changed very, very rapidly by someone with sufficient confidence, sufficient knowledge and sufficien…
The point about democracy is not that it delivers legitimate, effective, prosperous rule of law. It's not that it guarantees peace with itself or wit… - Rory Stewart
The point about democracy is not that it delivers legitimate, effective, prosperous rule of law. It's not that it guarantees peace with itself or wit…
This idea that failure is not an option: It makes failure invisible, inconceivable and inevitable. - Rory Stewart
This idea that failure is not an option: It makes failure invisible, inconceivable and inevitable.
The question shouldn't be what we ought to do, but what we can do. - Rory Stewart
The question shouldn't be what we ought to do, but what we can do.
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