Barack Obama Quotes About Foreign Policy

• No other advanced nation endures this kind of violence. None. Here in America, the murder rate is three times what it is in other developed nations. The murder rate with guns is ten times what it is in other developed nations. And there's nothing inevitable about it. It comes about because of decisions we make or fail to make. And it falls upon us to make it different.

  Barack Obama

  Fall, Gun, America

• I'm proud of the fact that I stood up early and unequivocally in opposition to Bush's foreign policy. [...] That opposition hasn't changed.

  Barack Obama

  Up Early, Proud, Facts

  "Not "corrupted" by DLC, Says Obama". www.blackcommentator.com. June 19, 2003.

• Now let's make two things clear: ISIL is not 'Islamic.' No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL's victims have been Muslim. And ISIL is certainly not a state. It was formerly al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq, and has taken advantage of sectarian strife and Syria's civil war to gain territory on both sides of the Iraq-Syrian border. It is recognized by no government, nor the people it subjugates. ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.

  Barack Obama

  Leadership, War, Taken

  "Is It ISIS or ISIL? That Depends On Who You're Asking". Interview with Arun Rath, wvik.org. September 14, 2014.

• Sanctions alone could not stop Iran's nuclear program. But they did help bring Iran to the negotiating table.

  Barack Obama

  Leadership, Science, Technology

  "CNN Newsroom" with Wolf Blitzer, www.cnn.com. April 2, 2015.

• I am a little jet lagged from my trip to Malaysia...The lengths we have to go to to get CNN coverage these days.

  Barack Obama

  Cnn, Politics, Littles

  "Transcript: Obama remarks at White House Correspondents' Association dinner", www.foxnews.com. May 4, 2014.

• If any individual who objects to government policy can take it in their own hands to publicly disclose classified information, then we will never be able to keep our people safe or conduct foreign policy.

  Barack Obama

  Government, Hands, Nsa

  "President Obama's speech on NSA surveillance reforms - full text". www.theguardian.com. January 17, 2014.

• Hunger, disease and poverty can lead to global instability and leave a vacuum for extremism to fill. So instead of just managing poverty, we must offer nations and people a pathway out of poverty. And as president I've made development a pillar of our foreign policy, alongside diplomacy and defense.

  Barack Obama

  People, President, Pathways

  "Politics and Foreign Aid: What Romney and Obama Can Learn from Huckabee and Lincoln" by Tom Murphy, www.huffingtonpost.com. October 23, 2012.

• I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president - with the possible exceptions of Johnson, FDR, and Lincoln - just in terms of what we've gotten done in modern history. But, you know, but when it comes to the economy, we've got a lot more work to do. And we're gonna keep on at it.

  Barack Obama

  Years, Two, Accomplishment

  "Where is America's missing foreign policy?" by Cal Thomas, www.foxnews.com. March 18, 2014.

• Ultimately, only diplomacy can bring about a durable solution to the challenge posed by Iran's nuclear program. As President and Commander in Chief, I will do what is necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. However, I have a profound responsibility to try to resolve our differences peacefully, rather than rush towards conflict.

  Barack Obama

  Leadership, Wisdom, Spring

  "Obama admits Israel has good reason for scepticism over Iran nuclear deal" by Dan Roberts, www.theguardian.com. November 25, 2013.

• Both President Kennedy and President Reagan were roundly criticized by parts of the foreign policy establishment that felt they were being weak by engaging our adversaries. So some of it is built into a political lexicon that makes you sound tougher if you don't talk to somebody, and rather, very loudly, wield a big stick.

  Barack Obama

  Political, President, Sound

  Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

• And, as a consequence of the pressure that we've applied over the last couple of weeks, we have Syria -- for the first time -- acknowledging that it has chemical weapons, agreeing to join the convention that prohibits the use of chemical weapons, and the Russians -- their primary sponsors -- saying that they will push Syria to get all of their chemical weapons out. The distance that we've traveled over these couple of weeks is remarkable.

  Barack Obama

  Couple, Distance, Justice

  "Full Transcript: President Obama Speaks Exclusively to George Stephanopoulos on 'This Week'". "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos, abcnews.go.com. September 15, 2013.

• There is a little bit of that schoolyard attitude of, it's one thing for a guy your own size to mouth off to you, but if there's a little guy, you should just smack him around. And it's probably bad advice in the schoolyard. It's certainly not a good way to run a foreign policy because even when you are dealing with a non-peer, militarily, war is complicated.

  Barack Obama

  Running, Attitude, War

  Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

• The president [Barack Obama] laid out his vision for foreign policy in a way that we hadn't heard before. And it could be summed up, I think, in two words - realistic idealism.

  Barack Obama

  Thinking, Two, Vision

  Source: www.nbcnews.com

• I can say across Europe that many principles that have been taken for granted here around free speech, and around civil liberties and an independent judiciary, and fighting corruption, those are principles that, you know, not perfectly but generally, we have tried to apply not just in our own country but also with respect to our foreign policy.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Taken, Independent

  Source: time.com

• But having made my decision as Commander-in-Chief based on what I am convinced is our national security interests, I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people's representatives in Congress.

  Barack Obama

  Military, Government, Long

  "Obama at War". "Frontline", www.pbs.org.

• Their foreign policy is so disjointed, confusing, and chaotic that, really, people need to reexamine those who want to be involved in every war.

  Barack Obama

  War, People, Confusing

  Source: www.nbcnews.com

• I didn't have a perfect model, but I wanted to try to blend my own personal reflections and experiences with this broader canvas to see how a lot of the narratives we have about economy and foreign policy got stuck. Because we have these categories of liberal, conservative, free marketer, open government - all these stereotypes about our politics and the categories we try to put things in are inadequate to this sort of complex, ambiguous, sometimes contradictory experience we have as ordinary people and that I have as an elected official.

  Barack Obama

  Reflection, Government, Perfect

• This comes from a group of people who`ve been wrong about every foreign policy issue over the last two decades. They supported Hillary Clinton`s war in Libya. They supported President [Barack] Obama`s bombing of Assad.

  Barack Obama

  War, Two, Issues

  Source: www.nbcnews.com

• I find it amusing that those who helped to authorize and engineer the biggest foreign policy disaster in our generation are now criticizing me for making sure that we are on the right battlefield and not the wrong battlefield in the war against terrorism.

  Barack Obama

  War, Our Generation, Generations

  "Democrats Debate in the Windy City". www.npr.org. August 8, 2007.

• We also think this is a reminder of the long tradition of bipartisan foreign policy that has been the hallmark of America at moments of greatest need, and that's the kind of spirit that we hope will be reflected in our administration.

  Barack Obama

  Thinking, America, Long

  "Cnn Newsroom" with Kyra Phillips, www.cnn.com. May 19, 2009.

• I'm confident that America's foreign policy rebalance to the region will endure beyond my presidency because it's in the national interest of the United States.

  Barack Obama

  America, United States, Endure

  Source: www.straitstimes.com

• When it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980s, just like the social policies of the 1950s and the economic policies of the 1920s.

  Barack Obama

  Want, Economic, Social

  Final 2012 presidential debate, www.cbsnews.com. October 22, 2012.

• Our alliance with our NATO partners has been a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy for nearly 70 years, in good times and in bad and through presidents of both parties because the United States has a fundamental interest in Europe's stability and security.

  Barack Obama

  Party, Years, Europe

  Remarks by President Obama and Chancellor Merkel of Germany in a Joint Press Conference, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. November 17, 2016.

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