Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Timothy Garton Ash

Quote by Timothy Garton Ash

“Russia has lost an empire but not yet found a role. Russia has to decide what it wants to be. And as we know in Britain, that takes some time. It is quite tough to lose an empire and Russia lost its empire very rapidly and very admirably, that is to say peacefully, it didn't fight.”

Quote by Timothy Garton Ash

Create image

Author

Timothy Garton Ash
Timothy Garton Ash

Timothy Garton Ash, born July 12, 1955, is a distinguished British historian specializing in modern European history, particularly the Cold War and the transformation of Central and Eastern Europe. He serves as Professor of European Studies at Oxford University and is a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. His influential works include "The Polish Revolution," "The File," and "The Uses of Adversity," which have been translated into numerous languages. Ash is also a regular contributor to major publications including The Guardian and The New York Times, bringing historical perspective to contemporary political discourse. more

You May Also Like

“In a democracy it is ultimately for us, the citizens, to judge where to place the balance between security and privacy, safety and liberty. It's our lives and liberties that are threatened, not only by terrorism but also by massive depredations of our privacy in the name of counter-terrorism. If those companies from which governments actually take most of our intimate details want to show that they are still on the side of the angels, they had better join this struggle for transparency too.”

IfsWantStillsShowsGovernmentNamesSidesCompanyLibertyStruggleDemocracyOur LivesSecurityJudgingBalanceCitizensAngelSafetyDetailsTerrorismIntimatePrivacyMassiveThreatenedTransparencyCounter Terrorism
Author:Timothy Garton Ash
Create image

“It is not just that it is profoundly offensive to the leaders and people of a democratic Germany to paint Hitler on the wall (or on the remnants of the Wall). It is also consummately counterproductive. Such sauce does not make the meat of substantive criticism more interesting. It means that the whole dish is pushed away. It does not mean that Britain's voice is listened to more attentively in the councils of Europe. It means that it is listened to even less.”

PeopleMeanDoeWholeVoiceInterestingLeaderWallEuropeCriticismDemocraticPaintMeatGermanyBritainDishesOffensiveCouncilSauceRemnantsCounterproductivePushed Away
Author:Timothy Garton Ash
Create image

“I find Chinese debates about their political system domestically, but also about China's claims in the international system, to be among the most original and surprising and exciting of our time. The starting point is a system that none of us had anticipated, which I call Leninist capitalism, but also obviously because it is the most important emerging power. The question of China's relations with the United States in particular, and the rest of the world in general, is the question of war and peace in the 21st century.”

WorldImportantWarStatesPoliticalUnitedUnited StatesCenturyParticularCapitalismExcitingClaimsRelationOriginalsStartingInternationalChinaDebateChineseOur TimeSurprising21st CenturyEmergingPolitical SystemsStarting Point
Author:Timothy Garton Ash
Create image

“What is the elephant in all our rooms? It is the global triumph of capitalism. Democracy is fiercely disputed. Freedom is under threat even in old-established democracies such as Britain. Western supremacy is on the skids. But everyone does capitalism. Americans and Europeans do it. Indians do it. Russian oligarchs and Saudi princes do it. Even Chinese communists do it... Karl Marx would be turning in his grave. Or perhaps not, since some of his writings eerily foreshadowed our era of globalised capitalism. His prescription failed but his description was prescient.”

WritingDoeWould BeRoomsDemocracyCapitalismThreatWesternGravesErasChineseTriumphBritainDescriptionCommunistElephantsPrescriptionsSaudisSupremacy
Author:Timothy Garton Ash
Create image

“Facts are subversive. Subversive of the claims made by democratically elected leaders as well as dictators, by biographers and autobiographers, spies and heroes, torturers and post-modernists. Subversive of lies, half-truths, myths; of all those "easy speeches that comfort cruel men.”

MenWellsMadeFactsLyingEasyHalfLeaderHeroComfortSpeechClaimsMythPostsDictatorSpySubversiveHalf TruthBiographersElected Leaders
Book:Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name
Create image