- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center Newsletter

Notable Quotes

Winter 2004-05

"THE NATURAL GAS PRICE SQUEEZE gives us the opportunity to usher in the return of coal power - not power from conventional high-polluting plants but from a new generation of much cleaner technology. . . . [that removes] more than 90% of toxic mercury emissions as well an impurities such as sulfur, nitrogen and particulates."

-William Rosenberg, "The Other Gas Crunch: How coal can help reduce soaring natural gas prices - and satisfy environmentalists," Forbes (1 November 2004)

 

"AT THIS CRUCIAL JUNCTURE, only concerted navigation will likely reduce Iran's ability to cross the nuclear weapon threshold and secure its existing fissile material stock from terrorists."

-Brenda Shaffer, "Will Iran Dupe the World Again?" Jerusalem Post (11 November 2004)

 

"CONDOLEEZZA RICE'S CHIEF TASK AS SECRETARY OF STATE will be to make American foreign policy more consultative in style. . . . Only then will she be able to begin the job of repairing America's tattered reputation by shoring up its neglected public diplomacy."

-Joseph Nye, "Rice must deploy more ‘soft power,'" Daily Star (25 January 2005)

 

"PRESIDENT BUSH CAN NO MORE SUCCEED with our current approach in Iraq than LBJ did in Vietnam."

-Monica Toft and Ivan Arreguín-Toft, "‘Peace with honor' in Iraq," The Boston Globe (25 October 2004)

 

". . . THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN THE STORIES out of Iraq and the rhetoric of the administration about the operation as a ‘remarkable success story' reinforces the view that the President and vice president would rather be consistent than right. It raises the specter of a White House that insists that victory is around the corner in the same way that our leaders did in Vietnam."

-Joshua Busby, "President Bush's Resolve Can Be the Opposite of Reassuring," The Union Leader (30 October 2004)

 

"WHEN IT BECAME CLEAR IN EARLY 2003 that some of Iran's activities were in violation of its safeguards agreement, Turkish security elites started to monitor Iran's nuclear program more closely. . . . [Now] voices are starting to be heard from within Turkish society promoting the idea of going nuclear, particularly if Iran manages to develop nuclear weapons capability."

-Mustafa Kibaroglu, "Iran's Nuclear Program May Trigger the Young Turks to Think Nuclear," Proliferation News and Resources (20 December 2004)

 

"THE PROBLEM OF INSECURE NUCLEAR MATERIAL is global. Solving it will require forging a global coalition of countries willing to work together to improve security for nuclear materials, wherever they may be. Given the devastating global economic impact that a nuclear terrorist attack would have, every country has a strong self interest in cooperating to reduce this threat."

-Matthew Bunn, "Preventing a Nuclear 9/11," Issues in Science and Technology (Winter 2005)

 

"IF IRAN GOES NUCLEAR, EGYPT WILL FOLLOW, then Saudi Arabia (more likely buying than making) and possibly Syria. Contemplate the consequences of such a nuclear arms race for Israel's security and the stability of energy supplies."

-Graham Allison,  "A Cascade of Nuclear Proliferation," International Herald Tribune (17 December 2004)

 

"HOW THE NEW CHINESE LEADERSHIP HANDLES CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS will speak volumes about what is meant by Beijing's desire to achieve a ‘peaceful rise' onto the international stage."

-Anne Wu, "‘Soft talk' across the Taiwan Strait," The Boston Globe (3 January 2005)

 

"SEVERAL YEARS AGO, GEORGE W. BUSH AND TONY BLAIR both tried to chasten [Zimbabwe's President] Mr. Mugabe directly and also to apply pressure to [South Africa's President] Thabo Mbeki . . . to bring Mr. Mugabe to heel. But in the shadow of Iraq, Washington and London are preoccupied. And so is the United Nations."

-Robert Rotberg, "Only Mbeki can restore sanity to Zimbabwe," The Financial Times (7 December 2004)

 

". . . THERE ARE 3,000 U.S. CHEMICAL PLANTS IN THE U.S. where a bad day would dwarf the casualties of 9/11. Yet the industry remains completely self-regulated with regard to terrorism."

-Graham Allison, "America the Vulnerable," The Baltimore Sun (7 December 2004)

 

"HIGHER TECHNICAL EDUCATION IS A CRITICAL ELEMENT in long-term development. . . . But higher technical education will require increased foreign and domestic funding - and one possible source is repatriated funds channeled through a new generation of private foundations."

-Calestous Juma, "Seized funds should be spent on social schemes," The Financial Times (17 January 2005)

 

"ISLAM IS A RICH AND ANCIENT RELIGION with much to offer. Muslim-Americans should let their religion develop synergies with their adopted American homeland. . . . A successful assimilation here will have positive ramifications worldwide."

-Raja Kamal, "Redefining Islam from within," The Providence Journal (21 January 2005)

 

"CONTRARY TO POPULAR VIEW, the Patriot Act did not address many of the toughest legal issues Americans face in trying to balance our concern for our freedoms with worries about our safety in the war on terror. What are needed are new rules for a new era."

-Juliette Kayyem and Philip Heymann, "How to Fight Terror While Preserving Liberty," The Baltimore Sun (16 November 2004)

 

"BY PRESSURING RWANDA, the African Union will be asserting a leadership role in African conflict mediation. . . . But if war cannot be averted through diplomacy, then UN forces must be prepared to live up to their mandate and protect civilians, with force if need be."

-Omar McDoom, "Calling the UN and the African Union," International Herald Tribune (24 December 2004)

 

"FOREIGN STUDENTS . . . RETURN HOME and carry American ideas with them. They add to our soft power, the ability to win the hearts and minds of others. As Secretary of State Colin Powell put it, ‘I can think of no more valuable asset to our country than the friendship of future world leaders who have been educated here.'"

-Joseph Nye, "You Can't Get Here From There," The New York Times (29 November 2004)

 

For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Notable Quotes.” Belfer Center Newsletter (Winter 2004-05).