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I address you with neither rancor nor bitterness in the fading twilight of life, with but one purpose in mind: to serve my country. The issues are global and so interlocked that to consider the problems of one sector, oblivious to those of another, is but to court disaster for the whole. While Asia is commonly referred to as the Gateway to Europe, it is no less true that Europe is the Gateway to Asia, and the broad influence of the one cannot fail to have its impact upon the other.

Douglas MacArthur#19

DutyStrategyPolicyPoliticsGeopoliticsGlobalGlobalizationUnity

About this quote

What does it mean?
Global problems are interconnected; ignoring one region impacts all others.
In plain terms
World issues are linked, so solving one needs to consider others.
What can you take from it?
Address global challenges with an interconnected perspective.

Where it applies

  • policy making
  • international strategy
  • team leadership

Putting it to work

  • consider cross-sector impacts
  • avoid siloed thinking

Questions to consider

  • How do local issues affect the global picture?
  • What blind spots exist in your strategy?

Another view

It assumes all regions have equal capacity to influence outcomes.

More from Douglas MacArthur

  1. Here are centered the hopes and aspirations and faith of the entire human race. I do not stand here as advocate for any partisan cause, for the issues are fund…

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  2. In this situation, it becomes vital that our own country orient its policies in consonance with this basic evolutionary condition rather than pursue a course b…

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  3. I stand on this rostrum with a sense of deep humility and great pride - humility in the weight of those great American architects of our history who have stood…

    Permalink to quote #17

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