It would be, in fact, very ominous if Iraq were to be able to get weapon-usable material, hydro-plutonium or highly enriched uranium from abroad.
Mohamed ElbaradeiRead
You in the West have been sold the idea that the only options in the Arab world are between authoritarian regimes and Islamic jihadists. That's obviously bogus.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques a simplified view of the Arab world, suggesting that it overlooks a broader spectrum of political options and realities.
Mohamed Elbaradei's quote emphasizes the misconception held in the West that the Arab world is limited to authoritarian governments and extremists. It calls attention to the complexity and diversity of political thought and movements in the region, encouraging a more nuanced understanding rather than relying on binary categorizations.
Themes
Arab WorldPolitical OptionsMisconceptionsAuthoritarianismJihadism
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on international relations, a speaker cited this quote to highlight misconceptions in Western media.
More from Mohamed Elbaradei
All quotes →Countries that perceive themselves to be vulnerable can be expected to try to redress that vulnerability - and in some cases, they will pursue clandestine weapons programs.
Mohamed ElbaradeiRead
Egypt needs to catch up with the rest of the world. We need to be free, democratic, and - society where people have the right to live in freedom and dignity.
Mohamed ElbaradeiRead
I couldn't have imagined that I would live long enough to see Egypt emancipated from decades of repression.
Mohamed ElbaradeiRead
Psychology is as important as substance. If you treat people with respect, they will go out of their way to accommodate you. If you treat them in a patronizing way, they will go out of their way to make your life difficult.
Mohamed ElbaradeiRead
The gravest threat faced by the world is of an extremist group getting hold of nuclear weapons or materials.
Mohamed ElbaradeiRead
Similar quotes
I am that prodigal son who wasted all the portion entrusted to me by my father. But I have not yet fallen at my father's knees. I have not yet begun to put away from me the enticements of my former riotous living.
St. JeromeRead
Against my better judgment I feel certain that somewhere very near here—the first house down the road, maybe—there's a good poet dying, but also somewhere very near here somebody's having a hilarious pint of pus taken from her lovely young body, and I can't be running back and forth forever between grief and high delight.
J. D. SalingerRead
Since we live in a society that promotes faddism and temporary superficial adaptation of different values, we are easily convinced that changes have occurred in arenas where there has been little or no change.
Bell HooksRead
We will be judged. There will be an accounting; there will be a reckoning sooner or later. It will either come from ourselves and our own conscience, or it will come from our kids when they ask that inconvenient question: 'What were you doing when they turned those kids back from the border?'
Beto O'RourkeRead
If you try to create a type, you may end with nothing. If you do a good job of creating an individual, you may succeed at creating a type.
F. Scott FitzgeraldRead
I remember her telling me once that rabbits were the gnomes in attendance to the Fairy Queen and that the stars were God's daisy chain. Perfect rot, of course.
P. G. WodehouseRead