“Certainly, protecting oppressed people, stopping ethnic conflict and promoting responsible governance are worthy goals. But none is as important for American security and prosperity as keeping the peace in the Middle East, Europe and East Asia.” PeopleImportantGoalMiddleSecurityConflictEuropeResponsibleProsperityWorthyEastMiddle EastOppressedStoppingAsiaGovernancePromotingEthnic ConflictEast Asia Author:Michael Mandelbaum
“Intervention in Syria is not an option. President Obama has already helped foment this civil war and supported the al-Qaeda jihadists. This is an explosive region, and more US intervention means more people will die. We should be choosing peace - not a new conflict. More so than anyone else, my supporters know that America cannot afford another unlawful, immoral war in the Middle East. Stand with me and tell President Obama to stay out of Syria.” PeopleKnowsShouldMeanWarAmericaDiesPresidentMiddleConflictEastCivil WarRegionsAlsPresident ObamaMiddle EastSyriaSupporterImmoralInterventionAl QaedaExplosivesUnlawful Author:Ron Paul
“September 11 was a day of de-Enlightenment. Politics stood revealed as a veritable Walpurgis Night of the irrational. And such old, old stuff. The conflicts we now face or fear involve opposed geographical arenas, but also opposed centuries or even millennia. It is a landscape of ferocious anachronisms: nuclear jihad in the Indian subcontinent; the medieval agonism of Islam; the Bronze Age blunderings of the Middle East.” AgeFacesNightStuffMiddleCenturyConflictEnlightenmentIslamEastNuclearLandscapeIndianMiddle EastSeptemberIrrationalArenaMedievalSeptember 11JihadBronzeOld StuffAnachronism Author:Martin Amis
“We usually speak of the Jewish-Christian civilization - perhaps, the time has come, especially with regard to the Middle East conflict, to talk about the Jewish-Muslim civilization as an axis opposed to Christianity.” ChristianSpeakChristianityMiddleCivilizationConflictRegardEastMiddle EastAxesMiddle East Conflict Author:Slavoj Žižek
“The issue [Israeli-Palestinian conflict], already lasting more than half a century, has brought deep suffering to the Palestinian people and remains an important reason of extended turbulence in the Middle East region.” PeopleImportantReasonSufferingHalfIssuesMiddleCenturyConflictRemainsEastRegionsLastingMiddle EastPalestinianIsraeliTurbulenceIsraeli Palestinian ConflictHalf A Century Author:Xi Jinping
“A history of perceived humiliation, after all, lurks behind many acts of terror. And competing narratives of victimhood and insults sustain conflicts in the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East and many other regions.” BehindsMiddleConflictTerrorEastNarrativeInsultRegionsMiddle EastCompetingHumiliationVictimhoodBalkansActs Of TerrorCaucasus Author:Serge Schmemann
“I believe that the fundamental proposition is that we must recognize that the hostilities in Europe, in Africa, and in Asia are all parts of a single world conflict. We must, consequently, recognize that our interests are menaced both in Europe and in the Far East.” WorldBelieveI BelieveInterestConflictEuropeFundamentalsEastAggressionAsiaPropositionsHostility Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
“At the same time, old confrontations have taken on frightening urgency, especially the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir and the violent stalemate in the Middle East. Progress on these and other global challenges requires us to develop a larger strategy for American foreign policy, rooted in a fundamental commitment to move the world from interdependence to an integrated global community committed to peace and prosperity, freedom and security.” WorldMovingPeaceCommunityChallengesTakenProgressMiddleSecurityPolicyConflictCommitmentIndiaFundamentalsStrategyCommittedProsperityEastViolentForeign PolicyMiddle EastRootedFrighteningPakistanConfrontationUrgencyIntegratedInterdependenceKashmirAmerican Foreign PolicyGlobal CommunityStalemateIndia Pakistan Author:William J. Clinton
“We have to adopt a wider perspective, and always find common things between the people of north, east, south, and west. Conflict comes from the basis of differencs.” PeopleCommonPerspectiveConflictBasesWestSouthEastCommon ThingsNorth East Author:Dalai Lama
“When the East Timor conflict broke out, when they gained independence, the militia killed a lot of East Timorese people. And their sacred totem is the crocodile. They believe that their island is actually a solidified crocodile, so it has sacred status.” PeopleBelieveConflictIndependenceSacredEastBrokeIslandsMilitiaCrocodilesTotems Author:Steve Irwin
“The conflict is not between Christianity and Islam or between East and West - instead, it is between stupid people and other stupid people.” PeopleChristianityStupidConflictWestIslamEastStupid PeopleEast And WestChristianity And Islam Author:Terry Pratchett
“If you really wanted to settle down the Middle East, if what you wanted was change in the Middle East, it is perfectly obvious that the first step is resolving the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.” IfsFirstsWantedStepsMiddleConflictObviousEastSettlingMiddle EastFirst StepsPalestinianIsraeliSettling DownIsraeli Palestinian Conflict Author:Molly Ivins
“Vietnam is a jungle. You had jungle warfare. Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, you have sand. [There is no need to worry about a protracted war because] from a historical basis, Middle East conflicts do not last a long time.” NeedsLongWarLastsWorryMiddleConflictLong TimeBasesHistoricalIraqEastSandVietnamMiddle EastWarfareJungleArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudisKuwaitMiddle East Conflict Author:Dan Quayle
“There are lots of conflicts going on in the Middle East. It is unclear as to which country will emerge, if any, as the dominant or hegemonic power in the Middle East.” IfsCountryMiddleConflictEastMiddle EastDominantUnclear Author:Samuel P. Huntington
“America is the only superpower. But our leadership is being tested in the Middle East, and some of the things that we have done in the Middle East are contributing to a potential explosion region-wide. And if that explosion gets out of hand, we may end up being bogged down for many years to come in a conflict that will be profoundly damaging to our capacity to exercise our power, to address the problems implicit in this global awakening, and we may face a world in which much of the world turns away from us, seeks its own equilibrium, but probably slides into a growing chaos.” IfsWorldYearsMayEndsDoneProblemHandsAmericaFacesTurnsGrowingMiddleExerciseConflictCapacityChaosWideEastAwakeningAddressesRegionsMiddle EastTestedSlidesExplosionsEquilibriumContributingSuperpowerImplicit Author:Zbigniew Brzezinski
“[The Middle East conflict ] just kind of ran its course for me. For a long time I could justify doing it to myself, no matter how irrational it was. It was important to me and my work. And I just don't feel it in the same way any more. When it comes up and it's important to me, I'll do it, but more out of sense of duty than desire - which used to be a big part of it.” WayFeelsKindLongImportantMatterBigsUsedDesireCoursesMiddleDutyConflictLong TimeCome UpEastUsed To BeRanJustifyMiddle EastIrrationalMiddle East Conflict Author:Peter van Agtmael
“Me being from a Celtic culture that tends to emphasize directness, conflict, openness has a big effect on my living in Japan, which tends to focus on indirectness, avoidance of conflict and keeping things close to your chest. So that has led to quite a lot of cultural misunderstandings in dealing with this East Asian culture I live in.” BigsCultureFocusEffectsConflictEastJapanChestsOpennessMisunderstandingAsianAvoidanceCelticAsian Culture Author:Sean Michael Wilson
“Unsettled Middle East, in these times where the people are trying to find their way towards democracy, could be interesting for many reasons - for weapons to be sold, for new geostrategic interests to be protected, and something that we are not talking about, which is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The people who are lost in the whole discussion here are the Palestinians. We have demonstrations in Palestine in West Bank. Nobody is covering this. It's as if they don't exist anymore. And this is, in fact, central. And Israel is silent.” PeopleIfsWayTryingReasonWholeFactsLostInterestInterestingTalkingDemocracyMiddleConflictWeaponsSilentWestIsraelEastDiscussionMiddle EastProtectedPalestinianPalestineIsraeliDemonstrationCoveringNot TalkingIsraeli Palestinian Conflict Author:Tariq Ramadan
“You can't anticipate history. It's only when you look back you see what the Romans did, and what various other empires did, what the British Empire did. We're now beginning to see the long shadow that it created, so one must be hopeful and say that what's going on in Asia, that what's going on in the Middle East, that all these various areas of conflict, that they will pass and move onto another area. But it would seem that the natural order of things is there is this cyclic behavior of destruction followed by a calm period.” LooksLongSeemsMovingOrderNaturalMiddlePeriodsConflictBehaviorShadowAreasDestructionCalmVariousBritishEastHopefulEmpiresMiddle EastAsiaAnticipateBritish EmpireNatural OrderLong Shadows Author:Roma Tearne
“In the Middle East, the conflict today is a matter of generations and not of cultures.” MatterTodayCultureGenerationsMiddleConflictEastMiddle East Author:Shimon Peres
“Rivers are inherently interesting. They mold landscapes, create fertile deltas, provide trade routes, a source for food and water; a place to wash and play; civilizations emerged next to rivers in China, India, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. They sustain life and bring death and destruction. They are ferocious at times; gentle at times. They are placid and mean. They trigger conflict and delineate boundaries. Rivers are the stuff of metaphor and fable, painting and poetry. Rivers unite and divide - a thread that runs from source to exhausted release.” MeanPlayRunningNextStuffWaterInterestingMiddlePaintingSourceCivilizationConflictEuropeRiversDestructionIndiaTradeEnvironmentalMetaphorChinaEastBoundariesReleaseLandscapeGentleDividesMiddle EastThreadExhaustedRoutesTriggersMoldFablesFertilePlacidDeltaPainting And Poetry Author:Edward Gargan
“Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East... The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled... This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people's enemies before a New Age begins.” PeopleWantUseAgeReligionEnemyAtheismMiddleConflictEastMiddle EastBiblicalFulfilledProphecyNew AgeConfrontationErase Author:George W. Bush
“As I travel around the world, people think the only place where there is potential conflict [over] water is the Middle East, but they are completely wrong. We have the problem all over the world.” PeopleThinkingWorldProblemWaterMiddleConflictEnvironmentalEastAround The WorldMiddle EastWorld Water Day Author:Kofi Annan