Thomas Friedman quotes - page 2

I think we're in the end game there, in the next three to six months, Bob. We've got for the first time an Iraqi government elected on the basis of an Iraqi constitution. Either they're going to produce the kind of inclusive consensual government that we aspire to in the near term, in which case America will stick with it, or they're not, in which case I think the bottom's going to fall out. (Thomas Friedman)
We need to send the message that anyone who orders suicide bombings against Americans, or protects those who do, commits suicide himself. And U. S. marines will search every cave in Afghanistan to make that principle stick. You order, you die - absolutely, positively, you die. View quote
Thomas Friedman
You win the presidency by connecting with the American people's gut insecurities and aspirations. You win with a concept. The concept I'd argue for is "neoliberalism." More Americans today are natural neolibs, than neocons. Neoliberals believe in a muscular foreign policy and a credible defense budget, but also a prudent fiscal policy that balances taxes, deficit reduction and government services. View quote
Thomas Friedman
We needed to go over there, basically, and take out a very big stick right in the heart of that world and burst that bubble.... What they [Muslims] needed to see was American boys and girls going house to house from Basra to Baghdad and basically saying "Which part of this sentence don't you understand? You don't think we care about our open society? You think this bubble fantasy, we're just going to let it grow? Well, suck on this!" That, Charlie, is what this war was about. We could have hit Saudi Arabia! It was part of that bubble. We could have hit Pakistan. We hit Iraq because we could. View quote
Thomas Friedman
Can Iraqis get this government together? If they do, I think the American public will continue to want to support the effort there to try to produce a decent, stable Iraq. But if they don't, then I think the bottom is going to fall out of public support here for the whole Iraq endeavor. So one way or another, I think we're in the end game in the sense it's going to be decided in the next weeks or months whether there's an Iraq there worth investing in. And that is something only Iraqis can tell us. View quote
Thomas Friedman
That will become clear in the next few months as we see just what kind of minority the Sunnis in Iraq intend to be. If they come around, a decent outcome in Iraq is still possible, and we should stay to help build it. If they won't, then we are wasting our time. We should arm the Shiites and Kurds and leave the Sunnis of Iraq to reap the wind. View quote
Thomas Friedman
Now we've entered Globalization 3.0, and it is shrinking the world from size small to a size tiny. View quote
Thomas Friedman
America still has the right stuff to thrive. We still have the most creative, diverse, innovative culture and open society - in a world where the ability to imagine and generate new ideas with speed and to implement them through global collaboration is the most important competitive advantage. View quote
Thomas Friedman
Every golf course should have its carbon rating on the scorecard, alongside its Course Rating, Slope, par and yardage. View quote
Thomas Friedman
What I absolutely don't understand is just at the moment when we finally have a UN-approved Iraqi-caretaker government made up of - I know a lot of these guys - reasonably decent people and more than reasonably decent people, everyone wants to declare it's over. I don't get it. It might be over in a week, it might be over in a month, it might be over in six months, but what's the rush? Can we let this play out, please? View quote
Thomas Friedman
Israel should really reflect on what's going on in Egypt. It does not want to be the Hosni Mubarak of the peace process. (Thomas Friedman)
After two years of traveling almost exclusively to Western Europe and the Middle East, Poland feels like a geopolitical spa. I visited here for just three days and got two years of anti-American bruises massaged out of me. Get this: people here actually tell you they like America -- without whispering. What has gotten into these people? Have all their subscriptions to Le Monde Diplomatique expired? Haven't they gotten the word from Berlin and Paris? No, they haven't. In fact, Poland is the antidote to European anti-Americanism. Poland is to France what Advil is to a pain in the neck. Or as Michael Mandelbaum, the Johns Hopkins foreign affairs specialist, remarked after visiting Poland: "Poland is the most pro-American country in the world -- including the United States." View quote
Thomas Friedman
What we're gonna find out, Bob, in the next six to nine months is whether we have liberated a country or uncorked a civil war. View quote
Thomas Friedman
I was speaking out in Minnesota - my hometown, in fact - and a guy stood up in the audience, said, "Mr. Friedman, is there any free trade agreement you'd oppose?" I said, "No, absolutely not." I said, "You know what, sir? I wrote a column supporting the CAFTA, the Caribbean Free Trade initiative. I didn't even know what was in it. I just knew two words: free trade." View quote
Thomas Friedman
I think we are in the end game. The next six to nine months are going to tell whether we can produce a decent outcome in Iraq. View quote
Thomas Friedman
We've teed up this situation for Iraqis, and I think the next six months really are going to determine whether this country is going to collapse into three parts or more or whether it's going to come together. View quote
Thomas Friedman
One-party autocracy certainly has its drawbacks. But when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today, it can also have great advantages. That one party can just impose the politically difficult but critically important policies needed to move a society forward in the 21st century. View quote
Thomas Friedman
Yes, the world is now flat for publishing as well. View quote
Thomas Friedman
You'll know the green revolution has been won when the word 'green' disappears. View quote
Thomas Friedman
Sometimes, when my wife and I were going out to dinner, I would take my laptop with me and work in the car, so as to take advantage of the half hour going and coming. View quote
Thomas Friedman
America needs rebooting. (Thomas Friedman)
A golf course should aspire to generate as much energy as it consumes - golf should be leading the way toward energy net zero. View quote
Thomas Friedman
I think we have lost our groove as a country. One of the reasons was the attack on 9/11. We got knocked off our game. From a country that always exported hope we went into the business of exporting fear. View quote
Thomas Friedman
I love America. I think it's the best country in the world. But I also think we're not tending to our sauce. View quote
Thomas Friedman
The country that owns green, that dominates that industry, is going to have the most energy security, national security, economic security, competitive companies, healthy population and, most of all, global respect. View quote
Thomas Friedman