International Community Quotes

As Brian Urquhart has said quite correctly, I don't think that individual countries in the international community can stand aside and let all of these slaughters continue without doing anything. ~ Alex Morrison

I am sure the majority of Iranians want a peace agreement with Israel and want Iran to integrate with the international community and accept its universal values. ~ Moshe Katsav

China's development is an opportunity for the international community, for Japan and for the Asia-Pacific. ~ Yoshihiko Noda

The case of Iran, a nuclear program that the Iranians admit was 18 years on, that we underestimated. And, in fact, we didn't discover it. It was discovered by a group of Iranian dissidents outside the country who pointed the international community at the location. ~ David Kay

The international community must make pressure on Israel to recognize our right to get freedom, to fight against occupation, to have real peace, legitimacy on our ground. If the international community obliged Israel to do that, then they can come to us and ask us to take our step. ~ Khaled Mashal

We have nothing to hide and it should be clear for the international community whose fault it was that the last closed European border was not open. ~ Serzh Sargsyan

Climate change knows no borders. It will not stop before the Pacific islands and the whole of the international community here has to shoulder a responsibility to bring about a sustainable development. ~ Angela Merkel

If we're going to prevent people from being susceptible to the false promises of extremism, then the international community has to offer something better and the United States intends to do its part. ~ Barack Obama

I don't know that there is much the United States can do except work with the international community. ~ Colin Powell

A literate world is a possible and desirable one. There are enough resources. What is now needed is the collective will of the international community to ensure that the necessary support is forthcoming. ~ Koichiro Matsuura

I commend Sri Chinmoy for his faith and serenity, and I hope he will continue to exert his calming and constructive influence on the international community for many years to come. ~ Brian Mulroney

The Iranians know what they need to do in order to become a responsible member of the international community and in order to become a good neighbor, and it's really up to them to change their behavior. ~ Adel Al-Jubeir

When the day comes that Tehran can announce its nuclear capability, every shred of international law will have been discarded. The mullahs have publicly sworn - to the United Nations and the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency - that they are not cheating. As they unmask their batteries, they will be jeering at the very idea of an 'international community.' How strange it is that those who usually fetishize the United Nations and its inspectors do not feel this shame more keenly. ~ Christopher Hitchens

The international community faces ever growing phenomena that transcend borders. I am specifically referring to terrorism, transnational organized crime, the global drug problem, corruption, traffic in persons, sexual exploitation, trafficking of children and adolescents, and smuggling of arms, among others. ~ Ollanta Humala

Part of our struggle is to make the international community understand that we are a poor country not because there is an insufficiency of resources and investment, but because we are deprived of the basic institutions and practices that make for good government. ~ Aung San Suu Kyi

We will not commit suicide because of pressure from the international community. A Palestinian state is not possible at the moment. I would rather fight and try to explain the situation in the Middle East to the world than to agree to steps that harm my country to satisfy the international community. ~ Ayelet Shaked

I don't know anyone who is more admired and respected in the international community than President Karzai, for his strength, for his wisdom and for his courage to lead this country, first
in defeat of the Taliban and now a democratic and unified Afghanistan. And I can tell you I am with foreign ministers and with heads of state all over the world. I sit in the councils of
NATO. I sit with the EU. I sit with people all over the world and there is great admiration for your president and also for what the Afghan people are doing here. ~ Condoleezza Rice

We believe that the United States and the rest of the international community can play a useful role by exerting influence on Pakistan to put a permanent and visible end to cross-border terrorism against India. ~ Atal Bihari Vajpayee

We all know what is meant by the term 'international community,' don't we? It's the West, of course, nothing more, nothing less. Using the term 'international community' is a way of dignifying the West, of globalising it, of making it sound more respectable, more neutral and high-faluting. ~ Martin Jacques

Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine is a gross violation of that nation's sovereignty and an affront to the international community. ~ Rand Paul

However, however, if the goal is to abandon America's free enterprise economy, if the goal is to convert America into a submissive member of the international community, if the goal is not to fix America, but to change America, then they want leaders that are going to come up here and fight it every step of the way. ~ Marco Rubio

The Security Council decided to deal with Iran's nuclear intentions. The international community will not be willing to tolerate an Iran with a nuclear capability and an Iran that collaborates with terrorist organizations. ~ Moshe Katsav

The 'harmonious world' theory .. will help dispel doubts in the international community about China's continued development and refute the absurd 'China threat theory'. ~ Ye Xiaowen

Whatever position I occupied, it was the result of colleagues - of my comrades in the movement - who had decided in their wisdom to use me for the purpose of focusing the attention of the country and the international community on me. ~ Nelson Mandela

The possibility that terrorist groups could obtain weapons of mass destruction should not be dismissed as a fiction. This is a horrific threat the international community should take seriously. As long as these weapons exist, so, too, does the risk of their use - by accident or design. ~ Ban Ki-moon

Belize pledges it continued support to the aspirations of the 23 million people of Taiwan to be full participants in all organs and agencies of the international community. ~ Said Musa

Now, more than ever, the international community must act. ~ Saeb Erekat

Dealing with the threat that Secretaries Albright and Cohen have described, the threat from Saddam Hussein, demands constant resolve by the United States and by the international community; and at times, action. As long as he remains in power, we must be prepared to respond firmly to reckless actions that threaten the region and our interests. We've done that successfully over this decade. ~ Sandy Berger

The whole international community will be united in condemning what they have done. ~ George Robertson, Baron Robertson Of Port Ellen

This is a racist remark, as if we, the Palestinians, cannot be a part of humanity to share the rest of humanity and the rest of the international community our creativity in the field of fashion. ~ Riyad Mansour

If we have the kinds of confirmation that we need, we will once again work with the international community and the organization charged with monitoring compliance by the Syrian government, and we will reach out to patrons of Assad like Russia to put a stop to it. ~ Barack Obama

Great American power and responsibility are not unprecedented, and have been used with restraint and great benefit in the past. We have not assumed that super strength guarantees super wisdom, and we have consistently reached out to the international community to ensure that our own power and influence are tempered by the best common judgment. ~ Jimmy Carter

Once serious political dialogue has begun, the international community can assume that we have achieved genuine progress along the road to real democratisation. ~ Aung San Suu Kyi

The majority of Afghans do not see the Americans as foreign occupiers who must be defeated. Instead, they are hungry for the Americans to step up and help them make their country safer, their government cleaner and their economy stronger. They are disappointed because the international community has done too little, not too much. ~ Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

I've got some other great teammates like Dallas Robinson and Johnny Quinn on the men's side who have been tremendous at showing Christ's love. It's not just the US teams, but there are also many believers from the international community including several from the Canadian team. We hope to grow Christianity throughout our sport. ~ Elana Meyers

Allowing the U.N. into Iraq will demonstrate to the Iraqis that the international community as a whole is committed to bringing stability and safety to their country. ~ Jay Rockefeller

I'm trying to learn more about international law to understand why we don't have better solutions for conflict - for dictators or aggressors that are hurting or raping children or using them as child soldiers. Why can't we have an international community handle these things in a swift, efficient manner? ~ Angelina Jolie

The international community would like to see an agreement in Libya before Ramadan, let me be very cautious about the possibilities for an agreement. ~ Bernardino Leon

The third point is that for some time the UN has been talking about helping Afghanistan in the reconstruction of the country but there has never been any real commitment by the international community to provide resources for that. ~ Lakhdar Brahimi

The leader of Iran made one of the most repugnant remarks the international community has heard since Adolf Hitler. ~ Tom Lantos

I think it's a disgrace for the international community that we have allowed so many conflicts to become frozen, and we are not making a serious effort to solve them. ~ Martti Ahtisaari

But you are absolutely right that when the international community decides to help in a meaningful manner a country like Afghanistan, then coordination between the various actors that are involved in these processes is very, very difficult indeed. ~ Lakhdar Brahimi

As long as Palestinian violence exists, but not a Palestinian state, Israel is in danger, because it cannot obtain assistance from the international community against an entity that is not subordinate to international law. ~ Stephane Hessel

To realize lasting peace and sustainable development in human society, members of the international community have to cooperate with one another fully and make concerted efforts. ~ Wu Bangguo

Perhaps it matters little whether the international community chooses to celebrate crop diversity, but it profoundly matters that the international community takes action to conserve it. ~ Cary Fowler

"I will call not just on Israel, but on the Palestinians, on the Arab States, and the international community to join us in this effort, because the burden of making hard choices must not be Israel's alone." "We stand with Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. America's commitment and my commitment to the security of Israel is unshakeable." ~ Barack Obama

There is no sign, not one sign, that the Iraqi regime has any intent to comply fully with the terms of Resolution 1441, just as it has failed to comply with previous U.N. Security Council resolutions. The international community gave Iraq one final opportunity to disarm peacefully, and that opportunity has run its course. Dr. Blix [Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector] told us on Monday that there has been no progress toward credible, verifiable disarmament. ~ Richard Armitage

AIDS is a global problem and there should be a global solution found by the entire international community. It is really scary to see and imagine our world fall into pieces because we refuse to share and put in the common vestiges of our civilizations. ~ Sarah Polley

The regime's policies, whether intentionally or unintentionally, had engendered a sharp divide between Muslims and Christians, in spite of the fact that generations of Muslims and Coptic Christians had lived together peacefully in the past. The regime was good at utilizing this divide to create a perception that without Mubarak in power, Egyptians would break out into sectarian warfare. As a result, Mubarak managed to market his police state successfully to the international community as the lesser of two evils. ~ Wael Ghonim

The international community must do a better job of controlling the risks of nuclear proliferation. Sensitive parts of the nuclear fuel cycle - the production of new fuel, the processing of weapon-usable material, the disposal of spent fuel and radioactive waste - would be less vulnerable to proliferation if brought under multinational control. ~ Mohamed ElBaradei

Even if we act immediately, the world is doomed to lose many of its animal and plant species and this inturn will reduce the ability of ecosystems to deliver vital services to human populations. The Red List gives all of us a practical tool for raising awareness of the biodiversity crisis and for forging new partnerships within the international community. ~ Achim Steiner

Well, there's been plenty of ultimatums, and one thing that we better be very clear is that we can't continue to have the kind of defiance of the United Nations, the defiance of the international community that we've had. ~ Condoleezza Rice

The recent wave of Taliban attacks has made clear that the international community must not waiver in its support for a stable, secure and prosperous Afghanistan. ~ Chuck Hagel

My message to the international community is that our silence and complicity especially on the situation in Gaza shames us all. It is almost like the behaviour of the military junta in Burma ~ Desmond Tutu

The international community unfortunately did take sides in Libya, and we would never allow the Security Council to authorise anything similar to what happened in Libya. ~ Sergei Lavrov

I will forever be thankful to the Malawians and international community, and my professional army and army general, who said: 'No, we will follow the constitution.' That's why I'm here. ~ Joyce Banda

The Conservative Party isn't electing a leader in opposition after losing a general election who can build up over five years and gain experience. We're electing somebody who's going to be our prime minister in two months' time, and that's why it's very important we have somebody with strong experience, who's good at working with the international community and can hit the ground running. ~ Chris Grayling

It goes without saying that the stability of the Middle East is the foundation for peace and prosperity for the world, and of course for Japan, should we leave terrorism or weapons of mass destruction to spread in this region, the loss imparted upon the international community would be immeasurable. ~ Shinzo Abe

Most of the international community, most of the countries around the world, don't want any side, any party to take unilateral steps. They would like that all of us to stick to the road map. ~ Silvan Shalom

My deepest regret from my years in public service is the failure of the United States and the international community to act sooner to halt these crimes. ~ Madeleine Albright

Those in the international community that refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel. ~ Benjamin Netanyahu

Internationally, there is one state that stands in defiance of practically every UN resolution that affects it: Israel. In the international community, Israel stands for the exercise of power with impunity. Israel defies the international community consistently - not because it is the world's sole superpower but because it is backed up by the world's sole superpower. ~ Mahmood Mamdani

Our diplomacy ended up giving a bad conscience to an international community capable only of expressing noble sentiments while doing nothing, .. So how can one explain that we are today investigating an action our country should be proud of?. ~ Alain Juppe

Faced with the crippling sanctions, Iran could simply decide it is paying too high a cost to pursue its nuclear program and could opt for negotiations and reconciliation with the United States and other members of the international community. This is clearly the preferred option of American leaders. ~ Richard Engel

When you see that earthly powers are not listening to you, that you are under siege in this city for four years and shot at without the international community doing anything to help, what should you do? Die?' he asked me in the course of our conversation. 'No, you pray to Heaven for help. ~ Kristiane Backer

So long as the international community consists of sovereign states, war between them remains a possibility, of which all governments have to take reasonable account. ~ Michael Howard

Some countries such as Iran and Syria are using the commotion to distract attention from their own problems with the international community. The Palestinians, who have been deeply divided since their election, have found a common enemy in Denmark that unites them. Extremists and fundamentalists are exploiting the conflict to promote their radical agenda and win new members. ~ Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Terrorists are linked to money laundering, dirty money, drug dealing, arms trafficking. We have to ask ourselves, where do terrorists get their weapons from? Where do they get their communication technology from? Where do they get their financing from? These are some of the aspects where I think the entire international community needs to come together and put a complete stop to access to these three key aspects by the terrorists. ~ Narendra Modi

When you have an asteroid threatening Earth, it's uncertain where it's going to hit until the last minute; the decision to take action has to be coordinated by the international community. ~ Rusty Schweickart

We don't see that the Taliban ultimately can succeed, and it's a combination both of what the international community can do to support Afghanistan, not just in the short term, but over the long term. ~ John R. Allen

With the persistence of tensions and conflicts in various parts of the world, the international community must never forget what happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as a warning and in incentive to develop truly effective and peaceful means of settling tensions and disputes. Fifty years after the Second World War, the leaders of nations cannot become complacent but rather should renew their commitment to disarmament and to the banishment of all nuclear weapons. ~ Pope John Paul II

Multi- polarisation has become an inevitable trend in the process of shaping a global political pattern and has been widely welcomed by the international community as it reflects the common interests and aspiration of the overwhelming majority of countries. ~ Li Peng

I believe that this is not only the view of the people on both sides of the Strait. It is also the common expectation of the US, Japan and the international community. ~ Chen Shui-bian

Defeating terrorism in Libya can only be achieved through the political and institutional determination of a united Libyan government, which will need the strong and unequivocal support from the international community in confronting the myriad challenges facing Libya. ~ Bernardino Leon

We have reached an important milestone and achieved a new momentum in reaching a goal all Americans should embrace - building a secure, peaceful, democratic Iraq that is no longer a threat to the United States or the international community. ~ Joe Lieberman

We have a historic opportunity to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in Iran, and to do so peacefully, with the international community firmly behind us. We should seize that chance. ~ Barack Obama

This year marks 20 years since the Rwandan genocide
the world's greatest humanitarian tragedy of the late 20th century. The international community had pledged 'never again' in the aftermath of the genocide in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the 1990s. Yet, we are witnessing today a different type of humanitarian disaster unfolding in Syria and Iraq. ~ Park Geun-hye

The conflict in the Middle East needs to be solved for the same reasons. It is necessary to reach a two-states solution, built on international law, for sustainable peace and development, and it can only be achieved through joint efforts by the international community. ~ Anna Lindh

I hope we do not see another Iraq-type operation for a long time - without UN approval and much broader support from the international community. ~ Kofi Annan

I felt it absolutely essential that we plant the U.N. flag in Rwanda and plant it in a place of significance to show all the political entities, all the signees of the agreement and the Rwandans ... that the international community were here and we're here to stay and we're going to be doing our job. ~ Romeo Dallaire

The international community lies at the center of the Obama foreign policy. Unfortunately, it is a fiction. There is no such thing. Different countries have different histories, geographies, necessities, and interests. There's no natural, inherent, or enduring international community. ~ Charles Krauthammer

In Rwanda that genocide happened because the international community and the Security Council refused to give, again, another 5000 troops which would have cost, I don't know, maybe fifty, a hundred, million dollars. ~ Lakhdar Brahimi

I think that we had a different view of what the 21st century could be like, with much more of a sense, from our perspective, of trying to have an interdependent world: looking at solving regional conflicts, having strength in alliances, operating within some kind of a sense that we were part of the international community and not outside of it. ~ Madeleine Albright

The international community cannot accept that whole communities are marginalized because of the color of their skin. People of African descent are among those most affected by racism. Too often, they face denial of basic rights such as access to quality health services and education. Such fundamental wrongs have a long and terrible history. ~ Ban Ki-moon

My overall worldview has never changed: that America has and must maintain the strongest military in the world, that we must lead the international community to confront threats and challenges together, and that we must use all tools of American power to protect our citizens and our interests. ~ Chuck Hagel

The place where the interests of all parties come together is the international community, along with its resolutions. ~ Bashar Al-Assad

My view is that the time has come for the international community to act on Zimbabwe in the way that it did in Bosnia - I do not think that we are going to get free and fair elections in Zimbabwe ~ Raila Odinga

Whatever help we may want from the international community now or in the future, we want to make sure that this help is tailored to help our people to help themselves. ~ Aung San Suu Kyi

To resolve this issue will require Iran to come to the table and discuss in a clear and forthright way how to prove to the international community that the intentions of their nuclear program are peaceful ... The question is going to be whether in these discussions they show themselves moving clearly in that direction. ~ Barack Obama

Mass killing has very clearly not been eliminated, nor has the 'international community' developed a response that will avert it or bring it to a quick end. ~ Elliott Abrams

The liberal vision of America is that it should be less arrogant, less unilateral, more internationalist. In Obama's view, America would subsume itself under a fuzzy internationalism in which the international community, which I think is a fiction, governs itself through the U.N. ~ Charles Krauthammer

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant ... has painfully affected the Soviet people, and shocked the international community. For the first time, we confront the real force of nuclear energy, out of control. ~ Mikhail Gorbachev

The possibility to mobilize the international community to act on human suffering is what drives me every day as a photojournalist. ~ Lynsey Addario

Just as the world was quiet when the atrocities of apartheid were being committed, so it was when the farm murders took place. Perhaps the threshold of the world's conscience was far higher and the murdered had to number in the hundreds of thousands before they were recognized by the international community. ~ Dauglas Dauglas

Solving the problems of the Middle East and the threat they pose to the world requires a fundamental change in the region's economic profile.9 The international community would have to make a sizable investment - a Marshall Plan in scale - to bring about change of that magnitude. And that requires American leadership. Even if we cannot afford that right now, we still need a clear economic strategy for the region - a plan for using development aid, trade, and investment to help the region and also serve our interests. ~ Vali Nasr

It is time to reinvigorate the UN General Assembly so that it can exercise a more decisive role in peace-making and peace-keeping, consistent with the will of the international community. ~ Alfred-Maurice De Zayas

I call on the international community to be fair to the Iraqi people. My position is that we respect international resolutions but in return demand justice and accountability for those who stole Iraq's money. ~ Ahmed Chalabi

The international community will not accept such threats to the political process. ~ Bernardino Leon

After Iyman Faris's foiled plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge, however, most of the al-Qaeda central command had either been killed or captured, and there were no more major incidents.85 But just as the situation seemed to be improving, in March 2003, the United States, Britain, and their allies invaded Iraq, despite considerable opposition from the international community and strong protests throughout the Muslim world. The reasons for this invasion were allegations that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and had furnished support for al-Qaeda, both of which eventually proved to be groundless. ~ Karen Armstrong

Mexico is a lawless place. I don't care what the UN says, or what the State Department travel advisories tell you. The fact is that Mexico, as a whole, is a narco-state run by powerful regional cartels, with a hollow and largely irrelevant central government that is nothing more than window-dressing to appease the international community. Freedom is for those who can afford it, law is for sale, and what is fair is determined by who is most powerful. That's the reality of Mexico. Cancun, Playa, Cabo, Puerto Vallarta- they are all much better than the interior of Mexico, but that is only because their survival depends on a steady flow of tourists with money to burn. To protect that, the government does a good job maintaining the appearance of western-style law and order through the direct threat of massive military intervention. Underneath it all, those places are not much different from the rest of Mexico. ~ Tucker Max