Jessica Mathews Quotes

Diplomacy is tough, slogging, slow work—and hard work.

And we ought to work our diplomacy first and I think it's a reason it's going to respond increasingly to our diplomacy particularly with the president's direct involvement in the peace process, and I think that's extraordinarily important.

American diplomacy is easy on the brain but hard on the feet.

Negotiations are the most essential tool of statecraft.

Diplomats were invented simply to waste time.

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.

Richard Holbrooke is known for many things, but I will remember him as an impressive, sometimes even intimidating diplomat who understood the value of culture in diplomacy.

Someone needs to talk sense to the president. But these people are not world travelers. This president, much as I like him, had all the opportunities in the world.

Modern diplomats approach every problem with an open mouth.

My diplomatic position will not consist of going and kneeling down in front of George Bush.

I don't think that anybody should be ruling in or ruling out anything while we are conducting diplomacy.

If you operate any kind of major diplomacy, you must run some risk.

There was no authority with which diplomacy could deal.

Successful diplomats must always be conscious of other parties' need to know how an agreement serves their interests and how it can be sold back home.

Statecraft, as these cases convincingly illustrate, is demanding and often exhausting work. There are risks, and success is not guaranteed. It requires major governmental and political resources and the same kind of hourly, year-round planning and execution as the conduct of a military campaign.

Diplomacy, contrary to the current misconception, is not about making nice, exchanging happy talk, and offering concessions. It is the engine that converts raw energy and tangible power into meaningful political results. In other words, diplomacy is all about the intelligent use of power. Diplomacy is not an alternative to coercion and other forms of power; its effectiveness depends on their skillful use.

In most cases, cables are marked secret not because the U.S. requires it but because those speaking to us - the foreign leaders across the table - do. They are not keeping secrets from us, but from two other groups: their enemies and their subjects.

Like Prince von Bismarck in diplomacy, I have no secrets.

Our public dealings with the Russians can hardly lead to any clear and satisfactory results unless they are preceded by preparatory discussions of the most secret and delicate nature.

Every diplomatic breakthrough is preceded by a crisis, but not every crisis leads to a breakthrough.

Diplomacy and force are two sides of the same coin.

There isn't any rule in diplomacy that can't be broken.... There are times when diplomatic principles should be violated, but when you violate them you ought to know you're violating them.

It is doubtful if anyone could recount a single instance in which a rupture of diplomatic relations has ever brought any benefit to the government that initiated the break.

The history of diplomacy is the history of relations among rival powers which did not enjoy political intimacy and did not respond to appeals to common purposes. Nevertheless, ... to think that rival and unfriendly powers cannot be brought to a settlement is to forget what diplomacy is about.

Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.