“On many occasions in the late 1950s and 1960s, [Ho Chi Minh's] ideas were apparently ignored by those who felt that his approach was too naive and prone to compromise. The outbreak of open warfare with the French and later with the United States was in effect a sign of the failure of Ho Chi Minh to achieve his objective to fight and win at low cost.” IdeasStatesFightingWinningFeltUnitedUnited StatesAchieveEffectsCostLateApproachLowsObjectivesCompromiseOccasionsWarfareIgnoredNaive1960sOutbreaks Author:William J. Duiker
“Already there exists a growing international concern that Israel has become "an apartheid state" pursuing policies manifesting a "settler colonial" mentality. Such perceptions pose a challenge to postcolonial international society that will not be indefinitely ignored, especially if Palestinians achieve greater unity and tactical focus.” IfsStatesChallengesGreaterFocusGrowingAchievePolicyPerceptionConcernUnityInternationalIsraelManifestMentalityPalestinianIgnoredApartheidTacticalSettlers Author:Richard A. Falk
“Reagan said that government is not the solution to our problems, government is the problem. And he was going to dismantle that government. Well, long story short, he failed to do that. He built up the military to a much greater status, more people in it, and actually more employees after the end of the Reagan administration. And, to achieve his objectives, he did some of the very same things that Trump is doing to achieve his. What Ronald Reagan really wanted to dismantle was the welfare state. And he had limited success in doing that.” PeopleWellsLongSaidEndsStatesStoriesProblemGovernmentWantedGreaterAchieveMilitaryTrumpSolutionsBuiltObjectivesAdministrationWelfareEmployeeWelfare StateLong Story Author:Brian Balogh
“Obviously, we've all had disagreements and differences in the past. I suspect we'll have them again in the future. But last night as Americans learned that the United States had carried out an operation that resulted in the capture and death of Osama bin Laden. I think we experienced the same sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. We were reminded again that there is a pride in what this nation stands for. And what we can achieve that runs far deeper than party, far deeper than politics.” ThinkingStatesRunningLastsPastNightNationsDifferencesUnitedPartyUnited StatesAchievePrideUnityDeeperOperationsSuspectsCaptureLast NightDisagreementBin LadenOsama Bin Laden Author:Barack Obama
“We deal with our mind from morning until evening. This mind can be our best friend or our worst enemy. We should do everything we can to improve outer circumstances - remedying poverty, inequalities, conflicts, and so on - while also doing our best to achieve a state of mind that give us the inner resources to deal with the ups and downs of life.” GivingShouldMindStatesDealsEnemyPovertyMorningAchieveWorstCircumstancesConflictResourcesInequalityEveningState Of MindUps & DownsWorst Enemy Author:Matthieu Ricard
“There was a deliberate decision after the failure of the League of Nations to make the next attempt to establish a global political actor sensitive to geopolitical realities. The underlying idea was to provide major states, defined in 1945 by reference to the winners in the Second World War (now an anachronism), with assurance that they could take part in the UN without jeopardising their national interests. In this regard, the UN has succeeded, as none of the big countries has withdrawn, and the Organisation has managed to achieve virtually universal membership of all sovereign states.” WorldIdeasWarCountryStatesBigsRealityPoliticalNextActorsNationsInterestDecisionAchieveMajorsUniversalRegardDefinedWinnerLeagueSensitiveWar Of The WorldsSovereignAssuranceDeliberateOrganisationSecond World WarMembershipNational InterestsGeopoliticalAnachronismLeague Of Nations Author:Richard A. Falk
“To achieve effectiveness and legitimacy it is time to scrap the right of veto given to permanent members of the UN, or at least severely restrict its use. It is also time to either abandon the idea of permanent membership or broaden it to reflect the rise of non-Western states to the status of global leaders (e.g. Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey, South Africa), and to downgrade European representation by either giving the European Union a single seat or rotating a European state among Germany, France, UK, and Italy.” GivingIdeasStatesUseGivenLeaderAchieveMembersIndiaUnionsSouthWesternFrancePermanentGermanySeatsAbandonSouth AfricaRepresentationTurkeysIndonesiaEffectivenessEuropean UnionScrapBrazilMembershipLegitimacyVetoRotating Author:Richard A. Falk
“On the cautionary side, Universal Jurisdiction could be used to achieve some kind of ideologically motivated criminalisation of 'the other' that would discredit and derail a constructive effort to develop a credible meta-law that governs the behaviour of leaders of sovereign states.” KindStatesLawUsedSidesEffortLeaderAchieveUniversalMotivatedBehaviourSovereignConstructiveCredibleDiscreditJurisdiction Author:Richard A. Falk