Stephen Kinzer

Countries that control water are likely to be the big winners of the future.

— Stephen Kinzer

Challenging orthodoxy is a death sentence in Washington.

— Stephen Kinzer

Emotion is always the enemy of wise statesmanship.

— Stephen Kinzer

Foreign interventions always end badly.

— Stephen Kinzer

Some major American publishing houses still seek work by foreign writers.

— Stephen Kinzer

It is never wise to discourage youthful idealism.

— Stephen Kinzer

Mayors of New York are almost automatically national figures.

— Stephen Kinzer

Israel is thirsting for water, and Turkey is overflowing with it.

— Stephen Kinzer

The key to Turkey's success has been its ability to reinvent itself as times change.

— Stephen Kinzer

No authoritarian leader cedes power easily or turns it over to bodies he cannot control.

— Stephen Kinzer

Mehmet was the first sultan, and one of the first Muslims anywhere, to defy religious tradition by allowing his portrait to be…

— Stephen Kinzer

Israel deserves special treatment from the United States, both for historical reasons and because there can be no regional peace without a…

— Stephen Kinzer

Saudi Arabia supplies much oil to the U.S. And it is the world's largest consumer of American weaponry.

— Stephen Kinzer

For decades, Turkey was widely viewed as a reliable NATO ally: prickly at times, but safely in America's corner.

— Stephen Kinzer

Many troubled Midwestern towns are grasping for ways to fend off decline and, in some cases, extinction.

— Stephen Kinzer

The idea that Arabia is best run by Arabs is no more palatable to Western leaders today than it was to Napoleon…

— Stephen Kinzer

Allowing a friend to careen toward self destruction is not friendship. That is a habit the United States needs to break as…

— Stephen Kinzer

King Frederick I of Prussia conceived the Amber Chamber in 1701 as a magnificent gift to the Russian royal family that would…

— Stephen Kinzer

In some countries that are darlings of the West, like Egypt, everyone knows the result of national elections years in advance: The…

— Stephen Kinzer

One of the most perplexing political questions of the late 20th century is how new democracies should punish deposed dictators and their…

— Stephen Kinzer

Guerrilla leaders win wars by being paranoid and ruthless. Once they take power, they are expected to abandon those qualities and embrace…

— Stephen Kinzer

There is very little hope that the United States or anyone else can do much to stabilize Iraq, Libya, Syria or Egypt.…

— Stephen Kinzer

The United States is now harbouring Luis Posada Carriles. His continued freedom mocks victims of terrorism everywhere. It also shows how heavily…

— Stephen Kinzer

American oil companies - including Amoco, Unocal, Exxon, Pennzoil - have invested billions of dollars in Azerbaijan and plan to invest billions…

— Stephen Kinzer

Throughout the twentieth century and into the beginning of the twenty-first, the United States repeatedly used its military power, and that of…

— Stephen Kinzer

Revolutionaries who come to power by force of arms usually have great crimes in their background. Leaders who survive campaigns by great…

— Stephen Kinzer

“The day’s most vivid exchanges were about a delicate but serious matter: the extreme foreignness of native Hawaiians. Both sides used racial…

— Stephen Kinzer

It is truly vital for the United States to assure that it is not attacked with weapons of mass destruction; to prevent…

— Stephen Kinzer

The world has paid a heavy price for the lack of democracy in most of the Middle East. Operation Ajax [CIA code…

— Stephen Kinzer

I don't have any problem with the United States acting on behalf of its own interests. That's what big powers do; that's…

— Stephen Kinzer

“the thirteenth-century mystic Jelaluddin Rumi, reject orthodoxy of any kind: I hold to no religion or creed, am neither Eastern nor Western,…

— Stephen Kinzer

During the 1990s the United States sought to impose the 'Washington Consensus' on Latin American governments. It embodied what Latin Americans call…

— Stephen Kinzer

“There was no response. Soon afterward, a skiff flying the Spanish flag approached the Charleston. Two Spanish officers came aboard and apologized…

— Stephen Kinzer

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Latin America moved decisively away from military rule and toward civilian democracy.

— Stephen Kinzer

What the United States wanted in Guatemala - and in Iran, where the C.I.A. also deposed a government in the early 1950s…

— Stephen Kinzer

The long-term strategic goals of Iran and the long-term strategic goals of Turkey are close to the long-term strategic goals of the…

— Stephen Kinzer

Pakistan is not about to crack down on terror groups or cut its military budget in order to build roads, schools and…

— Stephen Kinzer

After installing friendly leaders in Iran and Guatemala, the United States lost interest in promoting democracy in either country.

— Stephen Kinzer

No step the United States could take anywhere in the world would bring strategic benefits as great as detente with Iran.

— Stephen Kinzer

To frustrated Americans who have begun boycotting BP: Welcome to the club. It's great not to be the only member any more!

— Stephen Kinzer