Andrew H. Kydd Quotes

Admitting, however, for the sake of argument, that I am prime and sole minister in this country, am I, therefore, prime and sole minister of all Europe? Am I answerable for the conduct of other countries as well as for that of my own?

I don't believe in ideology in international relations.

You can't build a foreign policy on the presence of an individual [a particular foreign leader].

American foreign policy must be fashioned by the United States, not the United Nations.

You cannot have individual foreign policy. You cannot have celebrity foreign policy.

The U. S. is not the Boss, not the Boss any longer.

My observation on most people in national governments is that they have very little interest in and very little knowledge of the multinational institutions.

The statesmen still say that we should not interfere in the internal affairs of other nations and yet it is not possible any longer not to interfere, even when we do not mean to do so.

In the United States, there is a broadly shared view that the U.N. is one of many potential instruments to advance U.S. issues, and we have to decide whether a particular issue is best done through the U.N. or best done through some other mechanism.

I'm a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

The United Nations has come under the control of outlaw nations and self-serving special interest groups.

The problem with the United Nations is that while democracy within nations is the best available form of government, democracy among nations can be a moral disaster - especially if some nations are not democracies.

International institutions are composed of governments. Governments control their own military forces and police.

Legislation that would withhold funding for the United Nations is fundamentally flawed in concept and practice, sets us back, is self-defeating, and doesn't work.

There is no such thing as the United Nations.

Foreign policy is really domestic policy with its hat on.

In the Senate, there is a wide spectrum of views on foreign policy.

The logic of collective security is flawless, provided it can be made to work under the conditions prevailing on the international scene... The odds, however, are strongly against such a possibility.

Just as the formation of the family is basic to the formation of the state, so the states themselves are the only units that can form the basic constitution of a viable international organization.

If the United States leads a multinational force into Iraq without United Nations backing, Canada should fight beside its neighbour. We've gone from being a middle power to a muddle power on this one.

The most tragic paradox of our time is to be found in the failure of nation-states to recognize the imperatives of internationalism.

Every government is in some respects a problem for every other government.

Americans tend to go for it all. In international politics you can’t have it all. You have to compromise.

The first thing a diplomat has to do is understand the domestic politics of foreign states.

Its easy for a country to talk about global affairs but unless you can do something about it, you are not a player.