Jim Mattis Quotes

We won’t be very successful with the Chinese leadership [on human rights issues] if we’re in their face all the time.

[Recep Tayyip] Erdogan is an adherent of realpolitik. He knows that international relations are not built on the strength of unilateral demands, but on solutions that are in everybody's best interest.

If you treat China like a foe, surely she will become one.

If you want to treat China as an enemy, you have a much better chance of making them an enemy than if you treat them as a potential friend.

Diplomacy is not an end in itself if it does not advance U.S. interests.

Turkey can be a bridge to regimes and actions the United States can't reach. Turkey can talk to people the United States can't talk to.

Clearly, the Chinese know that we want a good relationship with them.

Clearly, for France in her present position, intelligent activity consists of practicing a policy of entente with Germany in order to survive

There are two things that are very expensive in international relations: promises when they succeed and threats when they fail

It’s not in our interest to drive the Russians into a beleaguered attitude where they have to prove what they can do.

There's certain things that we do work with Russia on, and then there's certain things when they do something wrong, I have no problem calling them out on it.

As our relationship with China grows and matures, tensions will naturally emerge.

In the '80s, we at least had the idea of diplomacy.

President Obama hasn't been elected by the American people in order to be pleasant to Russia. And your humble servant hasn't been elected by the people of Russia to be pleasant to someone either. We work, we argue about some issues. We are human. Sometimes one of us gets vexed. But I would like to repeat once again that global mutual interests form a good basis for finding a joint solution to our problems.

Burma wants to have good relations with our neighboring countries, China and India. I do believe the United States itself wants to live in harmony with China and India. That's why we have to lay down political policies that are fair for everyone.

If we blunt Russian efforts now to be aggressive, we may be pleasantly surprised by the policy options that become available to us, in terms of working with a better Russia.

I think we can't be naive in dealing with the Russians or dealing with the Syrians. But at the same time, I think we could try to encourage - and I think this is what diplomacy should do - encourage the self-interests of all parties to believe that it is in their best interest to get evil actors or rogue actors such as Syria or Iran, if you try to have less belligerent and less bellicose behavior.

If we could get along with Russia, that's a positive thing. We have a very talented man, Rex Tillerson, who is going to be meeting with them shortly.

Prospects of normalizing our relations with Russia look good.

We have treated our most serious adversaries, such as Iran and North Korea, in the most juvenile manner - by giving them the silent treatment. In so doing, we have weakened, not strengthened, our bargaining position and our leadership.

We always have hoped that American diplomacy deploys itself in dialogue and persuasion rather than by ultimatums. That is the path we want in international relations.

I told him that my own opinion was that the time now and the method now to deal with Russia was to keep our mouths shut and let our actions speak for words.

And Israel, being a tiny, small country, of course has interest to strengthen - we have interest to strengthen our relations with other countries, mostly countries that were hostile for many, many years.

A constructive approach to diplomacy doesn't mean relinquishing one's rights. It means engaging with one's counterparts, on the basis of equal footing and mutual respect, to address shared concerns and achieve shared objectives.

Of course the United States and Russia have different interests. Nevertheless, both are strategic partners.