--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Question: Which Mediterranean government…" description: "\"“Question: Which Mediterranean government shares all of Ronald Reagan's views on international terrorism, the present danger of Soviet advance, the hyp..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/992/christopher-hitchens-117_1980s_question-which-mediterranean-government_1897354.jpg" --- # Question: Which Mediterranean government shares all of… ![“Question: Which Mediterranean government shares all of Ronald Reagan's views on international terrorism, the present danger of Soviet advance, the hypocrisy of the United Nations, the unreliability of Europe, the perfidy of the Third World and the need for nuclear defense policy? Question: Which…” quote by Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/992/christopher-hitchens-117_1980s_question-which-mediterranean-government_1897354.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/992/christopher-hitchens-117_1980s_question-which-mediterranean-government_1897354.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/992/christopher-hitchens-117_1980s_question-which-mediterranean-government_1897354.jpg) > ““Question: Which Mediterranean government shares all of Ronald Reagan's views on international terrorism, the present danger of Soviet advance, the hypocrisy of the United Nations, the unreliability of Europe, the perfidy of the Third World and the need for nuclear defense policy? Question: Which Mediterranean government is Ronald Reagan trying, with the help of George Shultz and Caspar Weinberger, to replace with a government led by a party which professes socialism and which contains extreme leftists? If you answered 'the government of Israel' to both of the above, you know more about political and international irony than the President does.”” [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author highlights the paradox of Reagan’s anti‑terror stance versus his support for a Mediterranean government with conflicting values. **In simple terms:** Reagan’s policy is contradictory. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about political alliances. Themes politics irony foreign policy Mood critical analytical Type political satirical When to use this quote - academic debate - policy analysis - media commentary - public discourse Key Concepts Cold War Middle East ideological critique Questions to Reflect On - What does this irony reveal about political rhetoric? - How should leaders balance ideology and pragmatism? A Different Perspective Complex geopolitics may oversimplify. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [1980s](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1980s-459/) [Answered Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/answered-government-2777721/) [Cold war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-war/) [Europe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/europe/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Leftism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leftism/) [Leftists Answered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leftists-answered-2777720/) [Mediterranean sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediterranean-sea/) [Policy Question](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/policy-question-2777722/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Question](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/question/) [Question Mediterranean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/question-mediterranean-2777719/) [Ronald reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ronald-reagan/) [Socialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/socialism/) [Soviet union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soviet-union/) [Terrorism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrorism/) [Third world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/third-world/) [United nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/united-nations/) [United states](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/united-states/) ## Related quotes > [There is a very serious fiscal-policy question of, 'Are we running our overall fiscal policy such that we as a government can pay our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-a-very-serious-fiscal-policy-question-of-are-we-running-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I have had my mother's wing of my genetic ancestry analyzed by the National Geographic tracing service and there it all is: the arrow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-have-had-my-mother-s-wing-of-my-genetic-ancestry-analyzed-by-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“George Bush made a mistake when he referred to the Saddam Hussein regime as 'evil.' Every liberal and leftist knows how to titter at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/george-bush-made-a-mistake-when-he-referred-to-the-saddam-hussein/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“The last time that I consciously wrote anything to 'save the honor of the Left', as I rather pompously put it, was my little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-last-time-that-i-consciously-wrote-anything-to-save-the-honor-of/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“Long before it was known to me as a place where my ancestry was even remotely involved, the idea of a state for Jews…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/long-before-it-was-known-to-me-as-a-place-where-my-ancestry-was-even/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“There is a tendency on the left, to think if someone in any way disagrees with the left it must be for the lowest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/there-is-a-tendency-on-the-left-to-think-if-someone-in-any-way/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“There is a noticeable element of the pathological in some current leftist critiques, which I tend to attribute to feelings of guilt allied to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/there-is-a-noticeable-element-of-the-pathological-in-some-current/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“You might think that the Left could have a regime-change perspective of its own, based on solidarity with its comrades abroad. After all, Saddam's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/you-might-think-that-the-left-could-have-a-regime-change-perspective/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“If the counsel of the peaceniks had been followed, Kuwait would today be the nineteenth province of Iraq. Bosnia would be a trampled and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/if-the-counsel-of-the-peaceniks-had-been-followed-kuwait-would-today/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“As to the 'Left' I'll say briefly why this was the finish for me. Here is American society, attacked under open skies in broad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/as-to-the-left-i-ll-say-briefly-why-this-was-the-finish-for-me-here/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“He is in many ways quite a right-wing isolationist. It's because some people are naïve enough to confuse this with anti-imperialism that they think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/he-is-in-many-ways-quite-a-right-wing-isolationist-it-s-because-some/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“The neo-cons, or some of them, decided that they would back Clinton when he belatedly decided for Bosnia and Kosovo against Milosevic, and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-neo-cons-or-some-of-them-decided-that-they-would-back-clinton/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“My quarrel with Chomsky goes back to the Balkan wars of the 1990s, where he more or less openly represented the "Serbian Socialist Party"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/my-quarrel-with-chomsky-goes-back-to-the-balkan-wars-of-the-1990s/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“The friends of Galtieri, Saddam Hussein, Mullah Omar and Milosevic make unconvincing defenders of humanitarian values, and it can be seen that their inept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-friends-of-galtieri-saddam-hussein-mullah-omar-and-milosevic-make/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ “Some readers may have noticed an icy little missive from Noam Chomsky \["Letters," December 3\], repudiating the very idea that he and I had… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/some-readers-may-have-noticed-an-icy-little-missive-from-noam-chomsky/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## More by Christopher Hitchens > [“The spirit of our accurate and exact philosophy is outraged by conclusions that contradict each other so glaringly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-spirit-of-our-accurate-and-exact-philosophy-is-outraged-by/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“Many governments employ torture but this was the first time that the element of Saturnalia and pornography in the process had been made so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/many-governments-employ-torture-but-this-was-the-first-time-that-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ It's \[Los Angeles\] mostly full of nonsense and delusion and egomania. They think they'll be young and beautiful forever, even though most of them… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-los-angeles-mostly-full-of-nonsense-and-delusion-and-egomania/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [To be against rationalization is not the same as to be opposed to reasoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/to-be-against-rationalization-is-not-the-same-as-to-be-opposed-to/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ \[Religion\] attacks us in our deepest integrity - the core of our self-respect. Religion says that we would not know right from wrong, we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/religion-attacks-us-in-our-deepest-integrity-the-core-of-our-self/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“In the very recent past, we have seen the Church of Rome befouled by its complicity with the unpardonable sin of child rape, or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/in-the-very-recent-past-we-have-seen-the-church-of-rome-befouled-by/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It's surprising to me how many of my friends send Christmas cards, or holiday cards, including my atheist and secular friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-surprising-to-me-how-many-of-my-friends-send-christmas-cards-or/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Suppose there were groups of secularists at hospitals who went round the terminally ill and urged them to adopt atheism: 'Don't be a mug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/suppose-there-were-groups-of-secularists-at-hospitals-who-went-round/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [There are, after all, atheists who say they wish the fable were true but are unable to suspend the requisite disbelief, or who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/there-are-after-all-atheists-who-say-they-wish-the-fable-were-true/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“It isn’t so long since a test of Anglican orthodoxy was applied to anyone seeking to study or teach at Oxford and Cambridge universities.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-isn-t-so-long-since-a-test-of-anglican-orthodoxy-was-applied-to/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Gullibility and credulity are considered undesireable qualities in every department of human life - except religion ... Why are we praised by godly men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/gullibility-and-credulity-are-considered-undesireable-qualities-in/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It's much worse to see a woman drunk than a man: I don't know quite why this is true but it just is. Don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-much-worse-to-see-a-woman-drunk-than-a-man-i-don-t-know-quite/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It's true that obscenity is a matter of taste and in the eye of the beholder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-true-that-obscenity-is-a-matter-of-taste-and-in-the-eye-of-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [I worked out early on to give up things I couldn't do well at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-worked-out-early-on-to-give-up-things-i-couldn-t-do-well-at-all/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Writing is what's important to me, and anything that helps me do that - or enhances and prolongs and deepens and sometimes intensifies argument…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/writing-is-what-s-important-to-me-and-anything-that-helps-me-do-that/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) [Explore all 1,241 Christopher Hitchens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## More 1980s quotes > [There was a time in the 1980s when I worked in 22 films a year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radha-ravi/there-was-a-time-in-the-1980s-when-i-worked-in-22-films-a-year/) [Radha Ravi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radha-ravi/) > [“Everything worth knowing about the 1980s I learned from obsessively reading Bloom County collections when I was nine and Derek Jarman's diaries when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruadh-n-j-mcelroy/everything-worth-knowing-about-the-1980s-i-learned-from-obsessively/) [Ruadhán J. McElroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruadh-n-j-mcelroy/) > [“Dilettantes,’ Art3mis said. ‘It’s their own fault for not knowing all the Schoolhouse Rock! lyrics by heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-cline/dilettantes-art3mis-said-it-s-their-own-fault-for-not-knowing-all-the/) [Ernest Cline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-cline/) > [I was a safari guide in the 1980s in Kenya.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-winslow/i-was-a-safari-guide-in-the-1980s-in-kenya/) [Don Winslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-winslow/) > [“As he defended the book one evening in the early 1980s at the Carnegie Endowment in New York, I knew that some of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/as-he-defended-the-book-one-evening-in-the-early-1980s-at-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Nuclear power will be the Vietnam issue of the 1980s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-brown/nuclear-power-will-be-the-vietnam-issue-of-the-1980s/) [Jerry Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-brown/) > [The 1980s were all about synths for me, and it never went away after that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grant/the-1980s-were-all-about-synths-for-me-and-it-never-went-away-after/) [John Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grant/) > [The 1980s was the era of the blonde cheerleader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-ryder/the-1980s-was-the-era-of-the-blonde-cheerleader/) [Winona Ryder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-ryder/) > [In the 1980s and the 1990s, when HIV hit its peak, the gay community was at the forefront of the fight against the silent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-flock/in-the-1980s-and-the-1990s-when-hiv-hit-its-peak-the-gay-community/) [Elizabeth Flock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-flock/) > [The 1980s really ended for me in 1992 with the film Kika.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pedro-almodovar/the-1980s-really-ended-for-me-in-1992-with-the-film-kika/) [Pedro Almodovar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pedro-almodovar/) > [Eventually, our kind of music, whether it's us or Motley or Poison of whoever, will define the 1980s. That's something to be proud of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jani-lane/eventually-our-kind-of-music-whether-it-s-us-or-motley-or-poison-of/) [Jani Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jani-lane/) > [Back in the 1980s, state-of-the-nation fictions were all set in Manhattan. Now, they're all in Trump country. Early in 'S-Town,' we're introduced to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hepworth/back-in-the-1980s-state-of-the-nation-fictions-were-all-set-in/) [David Hepworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hepworth/) > [“Reading about Bordertown was the first time I saw people like me in speculative fiction. Messed-up kids, making messsed-up choices. I couldn't be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/reading-about-bordertown-was-the-first-time-i-saw-people-like-me-in/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [I was kind of freaked out by the art world in the 1980s. Just the money thing. All the competition over artists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-gordon/i-was-kind-of-freaked-out-by-the-art-world-in-the-1980s-just-the/) [Kim Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-gordon/) > [I remain extraordinarily proud of the Vaughan Williams symphonies I recorded with the LSO, and in the 1980s and '90s, I made an almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-previn/i-remain-extraordinarily-proud-of-the-vaughan-williams-symphonies-i/) [Andre Previn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-previn/) [Browse all 91 1980s quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1980s-459/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Question: Which Mediterranean government shares all of Ronald Reagan's views on international terrorism, the present danger of Soviet advance, the hypocrisy of the United Nations, the unreliability of Europe, the perfidy of the Third World and the need for nuclear defense policy? Question: Which Mediterranean government is Ronald Reagan trying, with the help of George Shultz and Caspar Weinberger, to replace with a government led by a party which professes socialism and which contains extreme leftists? 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