Richard N. Haass Quotes

The industry of political conflict is the biggest industry in Bosnia, and it is still not exhausted. What is needed is to replace these two industries - the industry of political conflict, the industry of human rights - with normal, creative walks of life.

Further, Japan is the second largest donor in Iraq after the United States, with over $5 billion dollars for humanitarian, infrastructure and reconstruction projects.

Businesses succeed when societies themselves succeed. When countries are affected by violence and the absence of the rule of law, business can and must be a messenger of peace.

Reconstruction requires security and security requires reconstruction.

… the many armed conflicts which continue to afflict the world today present us daily with dramatic images of misery, hunger, illness and death. Without peace, there can be no form of economic development.  Violence never begets peace, the necessary condition for development.

In fragile and conflict-affected states, education can insulate children from chaos and insecurity and better prepare them to bring about future stability.

My calling was first of all to ensure there was peace in the country, because we could easily have gone back to war. In the midst of the country, there were still warlords; there were many child soldiers who had never gone to school - they were part of the social setting - compromises had to be made.

I think it is our duty towards the people of Lebanon to stabilize the country.

For me, it's not an option to despair. The question is: what can we do to make someone's life better? Take the unimaginable strides made in places like Bosnia, where I cut my teeth, and Rwanda. Their stories aren't perfect, but I wouldn't have dreamt they could happen in a million years.

Our commitment to Afghanistan is a long-term one. We put a huge amount of resources into trying to make sure there is peace in that country, a huge amount of development assistance, a huge amount of political support for the government.

An environment of peace and security is essential for regional cooperation to progress and achieve economic development and prosperity of our people.

Economic activity can help repair war-torn societies, but if it's not conducted responsibly, it can also create or prolong violence. Companies and international organisations must help strengthen communities and overcome the trauma of violence.

When you've won the war, you're faced with the problem of winning the peace.

If you want peace, you've got to deal with people; you don't just deal with objects. And whether they take it as a responsibility or not, the success or failure in Kosovo is going to be the success or failure of building, first, economic hope, and then trying to heal the damage that's been done.

The little jihad is over, and now we have the bigger jihad - the bigger battle is achieving security and economic growth

It is time to end the western policy of malign neglect. It is in the interest of the whole world to help tackle the actual grievances in Palestine, Kashmir, and in central and southern Iraq, and to help the region out of its economic backwardness.

[Referring to El Salvador:] The economy can't really grow without first resolving the [civil] war. But the war can't be resolved without first fixing the economy.

The progress of freedom depends more upon the maintenance of peace, the spread of commerce and the diffusion of education, then upon the labors of cabinets and foreign offices.

The concept of military readiness is well understood, but readiness for what happens after the fighting stops is just as important.

In peacetime without war, they have destroyed all that could be destroyed. We are standing on one-sixth of the world, a rich country with our pants down and hoping someone will help us.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf brought stability to a place that was going to Hell.

What I have learned about Afghanistan is that force carries more weight than anything else.

If we can afford tremendous sums of money to win the war, we can afford to invest whatever amount it takes to win the peace

Preventing conflict means going back to basics - strengthening institutions and building resilient societies.

I understand how every healthy child, every new road, puts a country on a better path, but instability and war will arise from time to time, and I'm not an expert on how you get out of those things.