Top 94 Quotes & Sayings by Ben Rhodes

While President Obama raised the hopes of Americans and Cubans alike with a forward-looking opening in diplomatic, commercial and people-to-people ties, President Trump is turning back the clock to a tragically failed Cold War mindset by reimposing restrictions on those activities.

We don't have to kind of be in cycles of conflict if we can find other ways to resolve these issues. We can do things that challenge the conventional thinking that, you know, 'AIPAC doesn't like this,' or 'the Israeli government doesn't like this,' or 'the Gulf countries don't like it.' It's the possibility of improved relations with adversaries.

I profoundly do not believe that the United States could make things better in Syria by being there. And we have an evidentiary record of what happens when we're there - nearly a decade in Iraq.

After the separation of children from families seeking to join the United States was embraced as the official policy of our government, we should ask ourselves what story we will tell. President Trump's story is one of cruelty - that we may do something unfathomable to deter families from coming to America.

There are very few things I've ever been a part of that I believe in more than the Iran deal, and everything I said I believe to be true, and I was trying to make a case about the facts.

All these newspapers used to have foreign bureaus. Now they don't. They call us to explain to them what's happening in Moscow and Cairo. Most of the outlets are reporting on world events from Washington.

U.S. leadership has been rooted not just in our own belief in American exceptionalism but in the faith of others around the world. By so wantonly discarding that principle, the Trump Administration has done incredible harm to the families they have separated through the state-sponsored child abuse that has been carried out in our name.

Any country must establish control over its borders. That is essential to sovereignty and the security of our citizens. But America, at our best, has balanced that political, legal, and social objective with an appreciation for the benefits of immigration and a sense of respect for the dignity of all human beings.

No matter what people may think about American foreign policy, there is broad and overwhelming interest in engaging with the United States on issues related to entrepreneurship. People associate this promise with America, and that's an extraordinary asset for our country.

In both Burma and Laos, we have engaged countries that were once adversaries, and will continue to do so in ways that promote good relations, development, and human rights.

To the developing world, Cuba has been a symbol of sovereignty and resistance and a supporter of revolution - for good or bad. From the Missile Crisis to the anti-apartheid movement, from the Kennedys to Obama era, this small island has put itself at the center of world events.

Talking and diplomacy is often seen as a concession in America, in a way that it is not in other places.

We've supported the development of Cuba's private sector. This is a human rights issue - people should have the right to live with dignity and to control their livelihoods.

We are proud of the role our military plays in Japan: defending our allies, ensuring regional peace and stability, and responding to humanitarian catastrophes.

If we're going to play a role in shaping a future that is more secure, more prosperous, and more connected, we need to make sure that young people have the tools they need to succeed.

The Benghazi attack was one of the more confusing, chaotic days that we had at work because you had these multiple violent protests taking place in the Middle East.

Our Cuba policy was a major obstacle to getting things done in the hemisphere and a source of tension around the world.

A critical part of our relationship with Laos involves addressing the legacy of war.

We have enormous interests in the Asia Pacific. In addition to our economy, we need to secure our allies, protect our environment, promote peace and stability, ensure the free-flow of commerce, and stand up for human rights.

By heralding President Xi Jinping's accession to permanent leadership, soliciting Vladimir Putin's reentry into the Group of Seven, and declaring that Kim Jong Un is 'beloved by his people,' Trump legitimizes the very behavior that U.S. presidents opposed for decades.

In the course of a presidency, a U.S. president says millions of words in public. You never know which of them end up cementing a certain impression.

Jose Marti, known as 'the Apostle of Cuban Independence,' was an influential poet, journalist, and political theorist who became a symbol for the Cuban people's bid for independence. The concepts of freedom, liberty, and self-determination feature prominently in his work.

President Obama has been on the world stage for 10 years, and people know what he believes. He doesn't single out individual countries and doesn't say, 'I believe in LGBT rights because I want to embarrass the political leadership in India.'

In China, you just don't have the space for civil society and independent discourse and free media that you do in India. That's why India's success is so important as the world's largest democracy.

There's this constant narrative of anxieties: Is the U.S. in decline? Is China rising? People forget... no other country is trying to play the role we play. They're not signing up to be responsible for security in the Middle East, responsible for the global economy, responsible for enforcing international norms.

All over the world, independent and strong civil society - NGOs, faith leaders, and other community advocates - help governments solve problems and better serve their people better by shining a light on the issues that matter most - like education standards, access to healthcare, the rule of law, and economic opportunity.

One of the most depressing things about President Donald Trump's decision to roll back elements of the Cuba opening is how predictable it was.

What people admire about Prime Minister Modi is that he is an ambitious leader who is trying to elevate India economically, and enlisting all Indians in that project will make it more successful.

In the Arab Spring, that obviously came to a head in Syria. I found myself arguing for intervention, mainly just because I wanted things to get better, and I had this germ of liberal humanitarian interventionism.

The Catholic Church played an integral role in supporting the opening between the U.S. and Cuban governments.

Our basic assessment was that if America keeps going down these rabbit holes in the Middle East, we're just going to put ourselves out of business as the world leader because we're just draining resources and diplomatic bandwidth, and we're not producing outcomes.

The complete lack of governance in huge swaths of the Middle East - that is the project of the American establishment.

President Obama started in public life not as an elected official but as a community organizer. He worked with churches and other groups on the south side of Chicago to push public leaders to fight poverty, improve the local school system and make housing more affordable, and to bring about the change the community needed and deserved.

Irrespective of our foreign policies, for decades, other nations and peoples could see, in the United States, a strong democracy that could maintain social cohesion, welcome immigrants of all backgrounds, and count on stable institutions.

With the 5-to-4 decision upholding Trump's Muslim ban, arbitrary discrimination is now formal U.S. policy, celebrated by a president who campaigned on a 'total ban' of Muslims entering the United States.

There is no question that our security and prosperity will be increasingly tied to the Asia Pacific. If America doesn't set the rules of the road for trade in this region, other nations will.

Cuba has long played an outsized role in the world's imagination.

Americans will forever be proud of the brave men and women of our armed forces who served in World War II, and we will never forget those who paid the last full measure of devotion for our country. Their service protected our freedom and changed the course of history around the world.

President Obama has made the Asia Pacific region a focus of his foreign policy, and Vietnam - a large, growing economy in the heart of Southeast Asia - is critical to those efforts.

Following one of the most violent conflicts in human history, the United States and Japan built a deep and abiding friendship - an alliance that has underwritten unprecedented economic growth and security in the Asia Pacific for half a century. It is an alliance based on mutual interests and shared values and the ties between our people.

America's trade policy has an enormous impact on the economic well-being of the American people and the strategic interests of the United States.

Havana is a source of great pride to the Cuban people.

The Asia Pacific region within TPP encompasses nearly 40 percent of the world's GDP. Shaping the rules of the road for trade in this region is good for our workers and businesses - and it is good for our national security as well.

I don't think people realize how many decisions the president of the United States makes about military action.

Japan hosts more forward-deployed U.S. troops than any other country and serves as home port for our only forward-deployed aircraft carrier. In 2011, when a tsunami devastated Japan and created the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear facility, the United States stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our Japanese allies to respond and rebuild.

The world order and American actions in the world have deep wiring.

Anthony Bourdain was the one who hooked me on Laos.

Laos is a deeply Buddhist country, and my visit included a traditional Tak Bat ceremony, in which you get up at sunrise and make offerings to Buddhist monks.

The TPP will be good for the American economy, the Vietnamese economy, and the labor and environmental standards that make life better for our people.

Where civil society thrives, governments operate with more transparency and accountability. This creates a tangible impact on the lives of everyday citizens.

While the TPP - like any trade deal - is a subject of vigorous debate, its benefits are clear. The TPP will open markets and bring down barriers for American businesses in the world's largest emerging market, creating jobs at home.

Since taking office, President Obama has pursued a policy that focused more American resources and engagement in the Asia-Pacific, a region that will increasingly define opportunity and security in the 21st century.

Downturns in migration almost always prove temporary, as people adjust to changes in American enforcement. What doesn't change is the basic human impulse to pursue a better life in a place where they believe it's still possible.

In addition to deep divisions on issues such as trade, climate change, Middle East peace and nuclear weapons, Trump's attacks on leaders such as Trudeau and Merkel and disrespect for NATO and other institutions are prompting a reassessment by allied governments and publics.

For more than fifty years, our policy towards Cuba was not making life better for Cubans. In many ways, it was making it worse.

Where civil society is welcomed, communities are more safe, more secure, and more prosperous.

We want a rules-based order in Asia-Pacific like we have had in the Atlantic.

To be sure, the United States will be eternally proud of our civilian leaders and the men and women of our armed forces who served in World War II for their sacrifice at a time of maximum peril to our country and our world.

What I do miss is foreign travel, because there really is no substitute for showing up somewhere and representing the United States.

For many Americans, 'Vietnam' is a word associated with war and the extraordinarily complex history between our countries. But since normalization began, the U.S. and Vietnam have steadily built bonds of partnership, demonstrating that we can recognize history without being imprisoned by it.