Strobe Talbott Quotations

On the four biggest challenges he faced -- putting Russia on a course toward a pluralistic democracy, integrating Russia with the rest of the international community, respecting the independence of the other CIS countries, and bringing peace to the Balkans -- he demonstrated foresight, fortitude, and courage. Russia and the world were lucky to have this man in the Kremlin during that crucial period.

Here is one optimist's reason for believing unity will prevail ... within the next hundred years ... nationhood as we know it will be obsolete; all states will recognize a single, global authority.A phrase briefly fashionable in the mid-20th century -- 'citizen of the world' -- will have assumed real meaning by the end of the 21st.All countries are basically social arrangements, accommodations to changing circumstances. No matter how permanent and even sacred they may seem at any one time, in fact they are all artificial and temporary.

NATO and Russia have an extremely profound disagreement on the subject of the use of force (by NATO in Yugoslavia),

The path down which India and Pakistan have started to move with these tests is a dead end, and no one else should follow down that path,

We would hope that our allies and partners will resist the temptation, ... We would hope that they would try to strike a balance.

would be an obstacle to cooperation on other issues.

The short answer is no. We feel very strongly and I think our Russian colleagues agree unity of command is very important, and unity of command means all of Kosovo will be under one command arrangement.

The Serbian authorities have flagrantly and provocatively chosen to heighten tensions by bringing thousands of people into Belgrade to confront the peaceful demonstrations by the opposition,

The talks are sufficiently constructive and serious that we're going to continue them. President Ahtisaari and I have accepted an invitation from Mr. Chernomyrdin to return next week. So we're continuing them,

We want very much to see Russia deal with what is a global problem ... of extremism and terrorism, but to see that Russia deals with that problem in a fashion that meets international norms, ... And the feeling is that this standard has not been met.

These are tough issues, ... It's a work in progress.

There will be specific arrangement for division of labor within that but nothing that would bear any resemblance to partitioning or dividing Kosovo up into different national sectors,

You can't be in the neighborhood and not go.

This is part of an ongoing series of consultations we have had with the Russian government and we have a very broad and deep and important agenda, ... I am sure the topic of Bosnia will come up. Russia and the United States are working closely together to try to bring peace to the area. But we have a lot of other things to talk about.

That isn't to prejudge what the nature and arrangements will be for Russian participation in KFOR, nor has Russia decided categorically that it is going to be part of KFOR, ... potentially quite dangerous.

That means they don't have to worry about getting their throats slit or getting a bullet in the back of the head,

The Initiative aims to analyze the issues facing China and the problems and opportunities that China's rise presents to other nations, ... The Initiative will make recommendations to policy- makers on these challenges, as we seek to understand -- and promote others' understanding of -- the internal transformation of China and its emergence as a major factor in the new international system.

As Secretary (of State Madeleine) Albright and others have said, once there has been a complete withdrawal, the international community might consider permitting the return of some official Yugoslav personnel to perform very clearly specified and very carefully circumscribed and supervised functions within Kosovo,

It was clearly an act of terrorism, ... My understanding from the few minutes I have been on the ground is that our embassy and the Russian authorities are working very closely together to try to get to the bottom of this.

It's a tough call for the president. It's a brave and correct decision on his part and not without risks.

We will also try to use these laws as instruments for achieving long-term strategic objectives, not to punish for sake of punishment, but to try to induce these countries to do what is in their interest,

How exactly that's defined, in terms of command structure and that kind of thing, is something that we are working on.

In the next century, nations as we know it will be obsolete; all states will recognize a single, global authority. National sovereignty wasn't such a great idea after all.

Here is one optimists reason for believing unity will prevail ... within the next hundred years ... nationhood as we know it will be obsolete; all states will recognize a single, global authority. A phrase briefly fashionable in the mid-20th century -- citizen of the world -- will have assumed real meaning by the end of the 21st. All countries are basically social arrangements, accommodations to changing circumstances. No matter how permanent and even sacred they may seem at any one time, in fact they are all artificial and temporary.

All countries are basically social arrangements, accommodations to changing circumstances. No matter how permanent and even sacred they may seem at any one time, in fact they are all artificial and temporary.

In 2015, Vladimir Putin may witness his empire's death knell