--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Too often in Washington we tend to see…" description: "\"Too often in Washington we tend to see foreign policy as an abstraction, with little understanding of what we are committing our country to: the compli..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ac/chuck-hagel-9288_abstraction_too-often-in-washington-we-tend-to-see-f_475632.png" --- # Too often in Washington we tend to see foreign policy as… ![“Too often in Washington we tend to see foreign policy as an abstraction, with little understanding of what we are committing our country to: the complications and consequences of endeavors.” quote by Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ac/chuck-hagel-9288_abstraction_too-often-in-washington-we-tend-to-see-f_475632.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ac/chuck-hagel-9288_abstraction_too-often-in-washington-we-tend-to-see-f_475632.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ac/chuck-hagel-9288_abstraction_too-often-in-washington-we-tend-to-see-f_475632.png) > “Too often in Washington we tend to see foreign policy as an abstraction, with little understanding of what we are committing our country to: the complications and consequences of endeavors.” [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Policy decisions should be grounded in concrete realities, not abstract ideas, to avoid unforeseen complications. **In simple terms:** Policy needs real‑world context, not just theory. Key Takeaway Consider practical impacts of policy. Themes policy realism consequences Mood cautious analytical Type political strategic When to use this quote - policy drafting - international negotiations - legislative debates Key Concepts strategic planning risk assessment public accountability Questions to Reflect On - What concrete evidence should inform policy? - How can policymakers balance theory and reality? A Different Perspective Abstract analysis can overlook nuanced local effects. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Consequences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequences/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Endeavors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endeavors/) [Foreign policy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-policy/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Patriotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) [Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/washington/) ## Related quotes > [There's so much talk about the system. And so little understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/there-s-so-much-talk-about-the-system-and-so-little-understanding/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Great understanding is broad and unhurried; little understanding is cramped and busy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhuangzi/great-understanding-is-broad-and-unhurried-little-understanding-is-2/) [Zhuangzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhuangzi/) > [Most Christians have more Bibles than they know what to do with, but have little understanding of what is in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-b-ferguson/most-christians-have-more-bibles-than-they-know-what-to-do-with-but/) [Sinclair B. Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-b-ferguson/) > [And, in addition to all the miseries, the young are not wise. They have very little understanding about life. Who wants to live every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morrie-schwartz/and-in-addition-to-all-the-miseries-the-young-are-not-wise-they-have/) [Morrie Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morrie-schwartz/) > [Unless we know history, we will have little understanding of how far we have come, how we got here, and what still needs to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dreier/unless-we-know-history-we-will-have-little-understanding-of-how-far/) Peter Dreier > [“Great understanding is broad and unhurried; little understanding is cramped and busy. Great words are clear and limpid; little words are shrill and quarrelsome.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuang-chou/great-understanding-is-broad-and-unhurried-little-understanding-is/) Chuang Chou > [Inner Nature, when relied on, cannot be fooled. But many people do not look at it or listen to it, and consequently do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-hoff/inner-nature-when-relied-on-cannot-be-fooled-but-many-people-do-not/) [Benjamin Hoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-hoff/) > [It is not credible that any one should possess so little understanding as to desire the faith and yet be destitute of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-not-credible-that-any-one-should-possess-so-little/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Do you know, my son, with what little understanding the world is ruled?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-julius-iii/do-you-know-my-son-with-what-little-understanding-the-world-is-ruled/) Pope Julius III > [We still have very little understanding of how we can tweak form or shape at the genetic level. We certainly haven't unlocked those secrets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitchell-joachim/we-still-have-very-little-understanding-of-how-we-can-tweak-form-or/) [Mitchell Joachim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitchell-joachim/) > [It is not enough to say that we cannot know or judge because all the information is not in. The process of gathering knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/it-is-not-enough-to-say-that-we-cannot-know-or-judge-because-all-the/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [People of little understanding are most apt to be angry when their sense is called into question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/people-of-little-understanding-are-most-apt-to-be-angry-when-their/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [Some of the most beautiful and fulfilling things in life are often things that we have very little understanding of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-of-the-most-beautiful-and-fulfilling-things-in-life-are-often/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We all take from our artistic endeavors what we as individuals need, to make the process unique and fulfilling to ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-weston/we-all-take-from-our-artistic-endeavors-what-we-as-individuals-need/) [Kim Weston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-weston/) > [“For their never-ending endeavours to obtain or retain wealth, countries desperately need companies, because they—unlike most human beings—have the means of production, and human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/for-their-never-ending-endeavours-to-obtain-or-retain-wealth/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) ## More by Chuck Hagel > [When you're dealing in situations that are uncontrollable and combustible, you try to stabilize the situation as quickly as you can and then work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/when-you-re-dealing-in-situations-that-are-uncontrollable-and/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [Closing Guantanamo Bay is not a military solution. The closing of that prison, which I support, I supported it when I was in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/closing-guantanamo-bay-is-not-a-military-solution-the-closing-of-that/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [We must prepare for everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/we-must-prepare-for-everything/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [Desperate men do desperate things when you take hope away. And that's where the Palestinians are today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/desperate-men-do-desperate-things-when-you-take-hope-away-and-that-s/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [The president of the United States is the commander in chief, and the people who work with him at the National Security Council are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/the-president-of-the-united-states-is-the-commander-in-chief-and-the/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [The Israeli people must be free to live in peace and security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/the-israeli-people-must-be-free-to-live-in-peace-and-security/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [In a general way, if one cannot attribute to the Jew the whole responsibility of the situation, economic, political, and social, by which Algeria…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/in-a-general-way-if-one-cannot-attribute-to-the-jew-the-whole/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [Institutions are imperfect. Governments surely are. People are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/institutions-are-imperfect-governments-surely-are-people-are/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [No one individual vote, no one individual quote or no one individual statement defines me, my beliefs, or my record.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/no-one-individual-vote-no-one-individual-quote-or-no-one-individual/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [We live in a world of absolute immediacy. It is an interconnected, combustible world, where technology and many other actions have given nonstate actors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/we-live-in-a-world-of-absolute-immediacy-it-is-an-interconnected/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [Imposing democracy through force is a roll of the dice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/imposing-democracy-through-force-is-a-roll-of-the-dice/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [I have never believed you go to war in Iraq, you go to war in Afghanistan, and believe that you can deal with those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/i-have-never-believed-you-go-to-war-in-iraq-you-go-to-war-in/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [Well, Mr Obama inherited probably the biggest inventory of problems, certainly foreign policy problems, than any American president ever has. I think the entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/well-mr-obama-inherited-probably-the-biggest-inventory-of-problems/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [Foreign policy will require a strategic agility that, whenever possible, gets ahead of problems, strengthens U.S. security and alliances, and promotes American interests and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/foreign-policy-will-require-a-strategic-agility-that-whenever/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) > [There's always a balance, I think, any administration has to find in not just the military but in any agency of government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/there-s-always-a-balance-i-think-any-administration-has-to-find-in/) [Chuck Hagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) [Explore all 74 Chuck Hagel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/) ## More Abstraction quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) Banesh Hoffmann > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. But when an abstraction starts to kill you, you have to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/yes-there-was-an-element-of-abstraction-and-unreality-in-misfortune/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/) Alfred Aho > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. Not unlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/don-t-get-stuck-on-the-level-of-words-a-word-is-no-more-than-a-means/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [ I'd say that \[Louis\] Brandeis practiced a kind of a "living originalism," to use the title of Jack Balkin's great book. He said you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-rosen/i-d-say-that-louis-brandeis-practiced-a-kind-of-a-living-originalism/) [Jeffrey Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-rosen/) > [When novels deal in abstractions, they generally go off the rails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/when-novels-deal-in-abstractions-they-generally-go-off-the-rails/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) [Browse all 562 Abstraction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Too often in Washington we tend to see foreign policy as an abstraction, with little understanding of what we are committing our country to: the complications and consequences of endeavors.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Chuck Hagel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/too-often-in-washington-we-tend-to-see-foreign-policy-as-an/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abstraction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/too-often-in-washington-we-tend-to-see-foreign-policy-as-an/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ac/chuck-hagel-9288_abstraction_too-often-in-washington-we-tend-to-see-f_475632.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ac/chuck-hagel-9288_abstraction_too-often-in-washington-we-tend-to-see-f_475632.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ac/chuck-hagel-9288_abstraction_too-often-in-washington-we-tend-to-see-f_475632.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Too often in Washington we tend to see foreign policy as an abstraction, with little understanding of what…” — Chuck Hagel", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Chuck Hagel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-hagel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Too often in Washington we tend...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/too-often-in-washington-we-tend-to-see-foreign-policy-as-an/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-hagel/too-often-in-washington-we-tend-to-see-foreign-policy-as-an/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```