I don't think nations can stand aside for ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the moral obligation of nations to intervene against atrocities like ethnic cleansing and genocide.
John Major's quote reflects a strong stance against the passive complicity of nations during instances of ethnic cleansing and genocide. It asserts that the international community has a responsibility to take action rather than remain indifferent in the face of such grave human rights violations, expressing a belief in global moral responsibility and ethical intervention.
In practice
In a speech addressing human rights violations, one could use this quote to highlight the need for active involvement.
The sight of allegedly sophisticated politicians parroting complete tripe trivialises and demeans government and it has to be stopped. It's played a significant part in public disillusionment with politics and has led to the absurd situation where more people vote for 'Strictly Come Dancing' than voted in the general election.
The argument that someone is a bad man is an inadequate argument for war and certainly an inadequate and unacceptable argument for regime change.
Whether you agree with me or disagree with me; like me or loathe me, don't bind my hands when I am negotiating on behalf of the British nation.
I've seen many men die right in front of me - so many in fact that I've become almost hardened to it. Having seen the worst that human beings can do to each other, the results of torture, mutilation and seeing someone blown to pieces by a bomb, you develop a kind of shell. But you had to. You had to. Otherwise, we would never have won.
I have never been what you would call just an integrationist. I know I've been called that... Integrating that bus wouldn't mean more equality. Even when there was segregation, there was plenty of integration in the South, but it was for the benefit and convenience of the white person, not us.
The sufferings that fate inflicts on us should be borne with patience, what enemies inflict with manly courage.
We show up to fight racism, anti-black racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, misogyny, patriarchy, anti-Semitism, because after Donald Trump is out of office, there will still be all those things here.
I would like to keep fighting until I have my 100th victory. But if I lose, I'll lose fighting hard, with pride and dignity.
All women are strong. My mother survived Auschwitz, and fear wasn't an option when we were growing up. If we were afraid of the dark, we were put into the closet until we weren't.
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