--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No modern nation has ever constructed a…" description: "\"No modern nation has ever constructed a foreign policy that was acceptable to its intellectuals\" — Irving Kristol" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/irving-kristol-14064_foreign-policy_no-modern-nation-has-ever-constructed-a_1879343.jpg" --- # No modern nation has ever constructed a foreign policy… ![“No modern nation has ever constructed a foreign policy that was acceptable to its intellectuals” quote by Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/irving-kristol-14064_foreign-policy_no-modern-nation-has-ever-constructed-a_1879343.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/irving-kristol-14064_foreign-policy_no-modern-nation-has-ever-constructed-a_1879343.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/irving-kristol-14064_foreign-policy_no-modern-nation-has-ever-constructed-a_1879343.jpg) > “No modern nation has ever constructed a foreign policy that was acceptable to its intellectuals” [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Intellectuals often reject foreign policies that conflict with their ideals, leading to a gap between policy and elite opinion. **In simple terms:** Intellectuals may dislike government foreign policy. Key Takeaway Consider how to align policy with intellectual support. Themes politics foreign policy intellectuals Mood critical reflective Type analytical political When to use this quote - government strategy - academic debate - public discourse Key Concepts ideology public opinion policy making Questions to Reflect On - How can policymakers engage intellectuals constructively? - What compromises are acceptable? A Different Perspective Intellectuals may have diverse views, making consensus hard. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Foreign policy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-policy/) [Intellectuals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectuals/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) ## Related quotes > [The drive to be useful is encoded in our genes. But when we gather in very large numbers, as in the modern nation-state, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-drive-to-be-useful-is-encoded-in-our-genes-but-when-we-gather-in/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“Spain was recently unified, one of the new modern nation-states, like France , England , and Portugal . 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We shall learn from the historic mistakes of others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-herzl/i-incline-to-an-aristocratic-republic-this-would-satisfy-the/) [Theodor Herzl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-herzl/) > [“By 1938, Scotland had for nearly 200 years lived within a classic peripheral identity assigned to it by the artists and ideologues of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-mcarthur/by-1938-scotland-had-for-nearly-200-years-lived-within-a-classic/) Colin McArthur > [“Well, in my view what would ultimately be necessary would be a breakdown of the nation-state system―because I think that's not a viable system.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/well-in-my-view-what-would-ultimately-be-necessary-would-be-a/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [It was interesting watching the Afghanistan war review deliberations, this three-month process where Barack Obama did the most thorough foreign policy review ever by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/it-was-interesting-watching-the-afghanistan-war-review-deliberations/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [ Intellectuals (in the standard sense of the term, not \[ Edward\] Said's prescriptive sense) are the people who write history. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/intellectuals-in-the-standard-sense-of-the-term-not-edward-said-s/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Country and western is ignored by the intellectuals. They don't look at it as an art form. They think it's just somebody sitting on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-skaggs/country-and-western-is-ignored-by-the-intellectuals-they-don-t-look/) [Ricky Skaggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-skaggs/) > [The intellectuals' chief cause of anguish are one another's works. Jacques Barzun, 1959 all ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-intellectuals-chief-cause-of-anguish-are-one-another-s-works/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [There was no point in seeking to convert the intellectuals. For intellectuals would never be converted and would anyway always yield to the stronger,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/there-was-no-point-in-seeking-to-convert-the-intellectuals-for/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [“The passion with which native intellectuals defend the existence of their national culture may be a source of amazement; but those who condemn this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/the-passion-with-which-native-intellectuals-defend-the-existence-of/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [“...he was one of the great intellectuals of the 1940s who completed their higher studies in the West and returned to their country to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-al-aswany/he-was-one-of-the-great-intellectuals-of-the-1940s-who-completed/) [Alaa Al Aswany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-al-aswany/) > [Writers and intellectuals have a duty to humanity. It is to insist that the human entity remains the primary asset in overall development; thus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/writers-and-intellectuals-have-a-duty-to-humanity-it-is-to-insist/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) ## More by Irving Kristol > [I regard myself to have been a young Trostkyite and I have not a single bitter memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/i-regard-myself-to-have-been-a-young-trostkyite-and-i-have-not-a/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [As a result of the efforts of Hayek .. and the many others who share his general outlook, the idea of a centrally planned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/as-a-result-of-the-efforts-of-hayek-and-the-many-others-who-share-his/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [ \[Conservatism:\] Our revolutionary message... is that a self-disciplined people can create a political community in which an ordered liberty will promote both economic prosperity… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/conservatism-our-revolutionary-message-is-that-a-self-disciplined/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [The problem is efforts by liberals to establish a wall between religion and society, in the guise of maintaining the wall between church and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/the-problem-is-efforts-by-liberals-to-establish-a-wall-between/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [The danger facing American Jews today is not that Christians want to persecute them but that Christians want to marry them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/the-danger-facing-american-jews-today-is-not-that-christians-want-to/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [An intellectual may be defined as a man who speaks with general authority about a subject on which he has no particular competence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/an-intellectual-may-be-defined-as-a-man-who-speaks-with-general/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [The enemy of liberal capitalism today is not so much socialism as nihilism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/the-enemy-of-liberal-capitalism-today-is-not-so-much-socialism-as/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [It was a new kind of class war -- the people as citizens versus the politicians and their clients in the public sector.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/it-was-a-new-kind-of-class-war-the-people-as-citizens-versus-the/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [“What rules the world is ideas, because ideas define the way reality is perceived.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/what-rules-the-world-is-ideas-because-ideas-define-the-way-reality-is/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [The liberal paradigm of regulation and license has led to a society where an 18-year-old girl has the right to public fornication in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/the-liberal-paradigm-of-regulation-and-license-has-led-to-a-society/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [If God does not exist, and if religion is an illusion that the majority of men cannot live without ... let men believe in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/if-god-does-not-exist-and-if-religion-is-an-illusion-that-the/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [A liberal is a person who sees a fourteen-year-old girl performing sex acts onstage and wonders if she's being paid minimum wage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/a-liberal-is-a-person-who-sees-a-fourteen-year-old-girl-performing/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [.. the most intelligent defender of capitalism in the modern period is Friedrich Hayek.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/the-most-intelligent-defender-of-capitalism-in-the-modern-period-is/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [The really difficult moral issues arise, not from a confrontation of good and evil, but from a collision between two goods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/the-really-difficult-moral-issues-arise-not-from-a-confrontation-of/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [If you believe that no one was ever corrupted by a book, you have also to believe that no one was ever improved by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/if-you-believe-that-no-one-was-ever-corrupted-by-a-book-you-have-also/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) [Explore all 48 Irving Kristol quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) ## More Foreign policy quotes > [Britain should take pride in a foreign policy that reflects her values and responsibilities - but it must be grounded in the tangible interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominic-raab/britain-should-take-pride-in-a-foreign-policy-that-reflects-her/) [Dominic Raab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominic-raab/) > [I can say across Europe that many principles that have been taken for granted here around free speech, and around civil liberties and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-can-say-across-europe-that-many-principles-that-have-been-taken-for/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [ \[Putin\] is a bully. 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Climate change and public health are the top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-auchincloss/21st-century-foreign-policy-is-going-to-be-built-on-countries-that/) [Jake Auchincloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-auchincloss/) > [The next president needs to know foreign policy and not learn it on the job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-brownback/the-next-president-needs-to-know-foreign-policy-and-not-learn-it-on/) [Sam Brownback](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-brownback/) > [The reality is that our military presence on foreign soil is as offensive to the people that live there as armed Chinese troops would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/the-reality-is-that-our-military-presence-on-foreign-soil-is-as/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [We have come a long way in terms of foreign policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-pierre-raffarin/we-have-come-a-long-way-in-terms-of-foreign-policy/) [Jean-Pierre Raffarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-pierre-raffarin/) > [ \[A\]n Obama presidency would be an amusing approximation of the Carter administration, complete with vaporous moralizing and foreign policy bungling. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmett-tyrrell/a-n-obama-presidency-would-be-an-amusing-approximation-of-the-carter/) [Emmett Tyrrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmett-tyrrell/) > [From a German point of view, German-American and European-American relations are a pillar of our foreign policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/from-a-german-point-of-view-german-american-and-european-american/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [Trump's biggest success in his first term has been his foreign policy agenda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mollie-hemingway/trump-s-biggest-success-in-his-first-term-has-been-his-foreign-policy/) [Mollie Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mollie-hemingway/) > [I don't just denounce suicide bombers. 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