Stephen Kinzer quotes - page 2

If a leader comes to office in a seemingly fair election and tolerates dissent, he or she qualifies for our seal of approval. (Stephen Kinzer)
Accepting that Arabs have the right to elect their own leaders means accepting the rise of governments that do not share America's pro-Israel militancy. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
In some countries that are darlings of the West, like Egypt, everyone knows the result of national elections years in advance: The man in power always wins. In others, like Saudi Arabia, the very idea of an election is unthinkable. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
Iranians launched their constitutional revolution in 1906 and established their parliament soon afterward. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
After World War II, the winds of nationalism and anti-colonialism blew through the developing world. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
During the Cold War, America took sides not only in disputes between Arab countries, but also in debates within them. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
Western powers remain imprisoned by the idea that the world is a dangerous place, that it needs to be managed, and that they are called upon to do the managing. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Latin America moved decisively away from military rule and toward civilian democracy. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
Some major American publishing houses still seek work by foreign writers. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
Archaeologists have made discoveries that challenge fundamental traditions of Judaism as well as those of Christianity and Islam. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
No one will presumably ever be able to prove or disprove such fundamental religious principles as the existence of God. (Stephen Kinzer)
More than half of Guatemalans are pureblooded Indians, descendants of the proud Maya-Quiche tribes. In their mist-shrouded villages, the Indians worship the corn god and the rain god, only vaguely concerned with the political entity known as Guatemala. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
Land ownership in Guatemala is more unequal than anywhere else in Latin America. Roughly 90 percent of Guatemalan farms are too small to support a family. A tiny group of Guatemalans owns a third of the country's arable land; more than 300,000 landless peasants must scrounge a living as best they can. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
After installing friendly leaders in Iran and Guatemala, the United States lost interest in promoting democracy in either country. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
Sultan Mehmet had good relations with the Medici family and other powerful Italian clans, especially in Venice and Florence, and at his request, they sent him artists and craftsmen by the dozen. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
Sultan Beyazid considered his father's art collection decadent and ordered it sold at auction. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
Prairie grassland once covered much of North America's midsection. European settlers turned nearly all of it into farms and ranches, and today the prairie landscape survives mainly in isolated reserves. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
The United States is holding hundreds of suspected terrorists in prisons at Guantanamo and elsewhere. Many are locked up indefinitely. They have not been tried or even charged with any crime. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
Mayors of New York are almost automatically national figures. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
During the 1980s, international interest in the Nicaraguan war was intense. No conflict since the Spanish civil war had provoked such passion around the world. It was a classic good-versus-evil war. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
It is never wise to discourage youthful idealism. (Stephen Kinzer)
One day, Mexico will have a leader who is nationalist not simply in rhetoric, but also in fact. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
Chechens are not ethnically or culturally Russian, and have now been fighting for generations to free themselves from Russian rule. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
Chechens are Muslim, and some share the belief that the West is engaged in a global campaign against Islam. View quote
Stephen Kinzer
It is truly vital for the United States to assure that it is not attacked with weapons of mass destruction; to prevent wars in other countries from spreading onto American soil; and to maintain access to global sea lanes on which our economy depends. Beyond that, there is little or nothing in the world that should draw the United States to war. View quote
Stephen Kinzer