John Bolton Quotes

People say you favor assassination, what do you think war is? Except that it's assassination on a much larger scale, a much more horrific scale.

I don't think Hamas will be satisfied simply ruling the Gaza Strip.

I think some of this fascination with the 'Arab Spring' is just a grand experiment with Israel's survival.

North Korea is going to get away with keeping its nuclear weapons.

My philosophy is not a bean-counting, accounting 'look at this.' It is a philosophy that smaller government is better government, and government that is closer to the people is best of all.

There's no such thing as the United Nations. If the U.N. secretary building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference.

Well, I'm a libertarian conservative, so I believe in limited government/maximum individual freedom.

The only thing that will stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons is regime change in Tehran.

If Iran obtains nuclear weapons, then almost certainly Saudi Arabia will do the same, as will Egypt, Turkey and perhaps others in the region.

There's no such thing as the United Nations.

Our biggest national security crisis is Barack Obama.

Well, you could take several stories off the buildings of most U.S. government agencies and we'd all probably be better for it too.

When you have a regime that would be happier in the afterlife than in this life, this is not a regime that is subject to classic theories of deterrence.

Reform is not a one-night stand.

I think the International Criminal Court could be a threat to American security interests, because the prosecutor of the court has enormous discretion in going after war crimes.

Obama sees America as another country on the UN role call. Somewhere between Albania and Zimbabwe.

Everybody pursues their national interests. The only one who gets blamed for it is the United States.

Diplomacy is not an end in itself if it does not advance U.S. interests.

I'm a conservative Republican. I have been since I was 15 years old and participated in the 'Goldwater for President' campaign in 1964.

Every country has an aspect to it that rubs up people the wrong way.

The Nobel Peace Prize has become hopelessly politicized. I think it cheapens the prize itself.

It's not natural disasters that are to blame for the deprivation of the North Korean people, but the failed policies of Kim Jong Il.

Let there be no ambiguity about the American view that Syria's lack of cooperation .. is not acceptable.

It's very personal in its politics, very bitter and very negative.

Negotiation is not a policy. It's a technique. It's something you use when it's to your advantage, and something that you don't use when it's not to your advantage.

I don't think I would have to run a campaign that's financed like General Motors.

I am all in favour of democracy in Iraq.

I don't much believe in bumper sticker characterizations of foreign policy.

I haven't given up on the possibility that sweet reason will prevail.

I've never attended any Tea Party functions.

There is no patriotic obligation to help advance the career of a politician who is otherwise pursuing interests that are fundamentally antithetical to your values. That's not the call of patriotism.

I want to make sure that, not only in the Republican Party but in the body politic as a whole, people are aware of threats that remain to the United States.

I've been in the government bureaucracy, I've practiced law, I've done a lot of different things.

The U.N. is one of many competitors in a marketplace of global problem solving.

We need a strong and effective State Department. We can't conduct American affairs in the world without it.

The Republican Party is the party of national security. There's hardly a national security wing of the Democratic Party anymore. So if we turn away from it, that'll be a big problem.

The press tend to stick with that the people don't care about foreign policy in their daily lives and aren't concerned about it and so on and so forth. I don't think that's actually true.

I am not a professional politician.

My priority is to give the United States the kind of influence it should have.

There is no excuse for waste, fraud, and abuse in the Defense Department budget.

You know, as somebody who writes op-eds and appears on the television, I appreciate as well as anybody that…there is a limit to what that accomplishes.

A lot of people have said to me, 'That's a great idea, running for president. You'll get booked for more speeches. You can write a book.'

Texas is a big state. It's a major force in the Republican Party.

I have decided not to run for president.

I've been surrounded by some of the best economic minds in the country, and hopefully I've absorbed some of that.

Maybe it's my libertarian philosophy: but being in government is hard.

I think that Ronald Reagan had it right, being against abortion except in certain limited, defined circumstances.

The only way to resolve the North Korean problem is to change the regime.

America needs an adult in the White House who knows how to deal with China.

I wouldn't give up on Russia. I think they have legitimate security concerns from Islamic fundamentalism, not only on their border but in their country.