Iran, Cuba, Venezuela - these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying, `We're going to wipe you off the planet.'
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Obama argues that smaller nations like Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela are less threatening than the Soviet Union, yet the U.S. was willing to negotiate even when the Soviet Union threatened annihilation.
- In plain terms
- We talked to a bigger enemy that wanted to destroy us, so we should talk to smaller threats too.
- What can you take from it?
- Diplomacy makes sense even with hostile nations if they are less dangerous than past adversaries.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When is diplomacy appropriate with hostile states?
- How do we measure threat levels accurately?
Another view
Not all hostile nations pose comparable risks, and some threats may require different responses than negotiation.
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