Film
"The regional governors will have now direct control over their territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line; fear of this battle station."
— Grand Moff Tarkin, Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope
"Bullets change governments far surer than votes."
— Simeon Weisz, Lord of War
Fanfic
Yang pulled out her best manic smile, hoping it made her look as inhuman as possible. She flashed her Semblance too, just because. Her irises flickered to blood red. The bandit's face paled rapidly.
"A-Alright. I'll do whatever you say. Just don't kill me."
Huh. Whoever said diplomacy was hard?
"A-Alright. I'll do whatever you say. Just don't kill me."
Huh. Whoever said diplomacy was hard?
Live-Action TV
"Mr. Ambassador, you may not know much about me, but what you should know is I'm about as straight a shooter as you're gonna find in Washington. So you should believe me when I tell you that I do not want, as my first act as Commander in Chief, to attack Iran. But as we both know, it's not always up to us how history plays itself out. Now that I've chosen to believe that our country is not playing on our emotions tonight, but nevertheless, you will feel the full impact of them if you do not comply with my demands. Mr. Ambassador, dock your destroyers... or the lead story on the morning news will not be about the attack on our capital, but the devastating attack on yours."
— Tom Kirkman, Designated Survivor, "Pilot"
"The best diplomat I know is a fully-activated phaser bank!"
— Scotty, Star Trek: The Original Series, "A Taste of Armageddon"
Capt. Sisko: Our mission is to take the Defiant into the Gamma Quadrant and try to find the leaders of the Dominion, the "Founders." We have to convince them that the Federation represents no threat to them.
Major Kira: What if they don't believe us?
Capt. Sisko: That's why I asked for the Defiant. She may have flaws, but she has teeth. And I want the Dominion to know that we can and will defend ourselves if necessary.
"Space must have seemed a whole lot bigger back then. It's not surprising they had to bend the rules a little. They were a little slower to invoke the Prime Directive and a little quicker to pull their phasers. Of course, the whole bunch of them would be booted out of Starfleet today. But I have to admit, I would have loved to ride shotgun at least once with a group of officers like that."
— Captain Janeway reminiscing about TOS, Star Trek: Voyager, "Flashback"
Capt. Janeway: Your sensors should confirm [our holodecks have] been deactivated.
Lokirrim Captain: You're still required to submit to inspection.
Janeway: Your sensors should also confirm that our weapons are ready to fire. We're both reasonable people. I suggest a compromise. Your vessel will escort us through Lokirrim territory. That way, you can keep an eye on us, make sure we don't reactivate our holodecks. The other alternative is, we destroy your ship.
Lokirrim Captain (suddenly looking a bit uncomfortable): Your proposal is acceptable. [Transmission ends]
Janeway (sits back down in her chair): Sometimes diplomacy requires a little sabre rattling. [Chakotay smirks]
Captain Janeway showing she's Not So Above It All, Star Trek: Voyager, "Body and Soul"
"On the issue of 'galactic peace', I am long past innocence, and fast approaching apathy. It's all a game—a paper fantasy of names and borders. Only one thing matters, Commander: Blood. It calls out for blood."
—Londo, Babylon 5, "Midnight on the Firing Line"
James Hacker: Hello? Yes, Ronnie. I want the president of St George's Island to extend an invitation to Britain to send an airborne battalion on a goodwill visit. No, just a friendly gesture. Goodwill. Yes, at once, please. Thank you.[hangs up]
James Hacker: He seemed to think that 800 fully armed paratroopers was an awful lot to send on a goodwill visit.
Israeli Ambassador: No, it's just an awful lot of goodwill.
Music
"When someone makes a move
Of which we don't approve
Who is it that always intervenes?
U.N. and O.A.S.,
They have their place (I guess)
But first, send the Marines!"
Of which we don't approve
Who is it that always intervenes?
U.N. and O.A.S.,
They have their place (I guess)
But first, send the Marines!"
— Tom Lehrer, "Send the Marines", That Was the Year That Was
"The jackals lose when I cannot (get through)
There is a windfall of profit to (get to)
You better deal or we're gonna take you down"
There is a windfall of profit to (get to)
You better deal or we're gonna take you down"
— Anti-Flag, "Confessions of an Economic Hitman",
"I can handout a million vaccinations
Or let em all die from exasperation
Have 'em all healed from their lacerations
Or have em all killed by assassination"
Or let em all die from exasperation
Have 'em all healed from their lacerations
Or have em all killed by assassination"
Newspaper Comics
Calvin: How do soldiers killing each other solve the world's problems?
(Beat Panel, as Calvin's dad is clearly realizing that he doesn't know how to answer.)
Calvin: I think grown-ups just act like they know what they're doing.
(Beat Panel, as Calvin's dad is clearly realizing that he doesn't know how to answer.)
Calvin: I think grown-ups just act like they know what they're doing.
Video Games
There's a saying I like: 'One sword keeps another in the sheath.' Sometimes, the threat of violence alone is a deterrent.
— Raiden, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
"Is - is that thing safe?" No. No, it is not. You'll be quite happy to take it away - once your requests have been accommodated.
Web Video— Unexploded Mine description, Fallen London
Knock knock. It's the United States. With huge boats. With guns. Gunboats.
"Open the country. Stop having it be closed." said the United States.
There was really nothing [Japan] could do, so they signed a contract that lets the United States, Britain, and Russia visit Japan any time they want.
"Open the country. Stop having it be closed." said the United States.
There was really nothing [Japan] could do, so they signed a contract that lets the United States, Britain, and Russia visit Japan any time they want.
Web Original
No matter what foreign-policy stance the president takes, you can be certain that ol’ Johnny Boy will be there to call him a pussy for either (a) not bombing people or (b) not bombing them enough. McCain requires ALL of the bombing. If we don’t keep bombing everyone, then the mad dictators will think we look weak! And if we’ve learned anything, it’s that when mad dictators think you’re tough, they’ll say sorry, dismantle all their anthrax guns, and buy everyone a box of kittens.
"A fleet of British ships at war are the best negotiators."
— Lord Nelson
"Speak softly and carry a big stick."
"You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone."
"For my part I prefer fifty thousand rifles to five million votes."
— Benito Mussolini, 1937
"Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."
"Fuck your parliament and your constitution. America is an elephant. Cyprus is a flea. Greece is a flea. If these two fellows continue itching the elephant they may just get whacked by the elephants trunk, whacked good."
—Lyndon Johnson to the Greek Ambassador, 1965
"Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons."
— Gen. Douglas MacArthur
Eisenhower managed to begin the Vietnam war by not following his normal instinct of staying out of mischief. In his memoirs, he tells us why we didn’t honor the Geneva accords and hold elections in Vietnam: because some 80 percent of the country would have voted for Ho Chi Minh. This is very candid. The sort of thing one might have found in Stalin’s memoirs, had he not made ghosts even of ghosts.
"You have no idea how much it contributes to the general politeness and pleasantness of diplomacy when you have a little quiet armed force in the background."
— George Kennan
"I call it the Madman Theory, Bob. I want the North Vietnamese to believe I've reached the point where I'll do anything to end the war. We'll just let slip the word to them that, 'for God's sake don't you know Nixon is obsessed with communists. We can't restrain him when he's angry—and he's got his finger on the nuclear button', and Ho Chi Minh himself will be in Paris in two weeks begging for peace."
— Richard Nixon, as quoted by H. R. Haldeman
"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock."
— Will Rogers
"Politics is like boxing — you try to knock out your opponents."
— Idi Amin
"Nixon has the audacity to tell me to do nothing in the interest of my country until he dictates where that interest lies. At the same time he threatens me that failure to follow his so-called advice will be to jeopardize the special relations between our two countries. I say to Hell with such special relations."
—Shah of Iran
"When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat."
"We never threaten anyone. We just explain the situation."
—Russian diplomat to UN regarding Ukraine crisis
"International relations bears more than a slight resemblance to the mafia."
— Noam Chomsky
"If [Hugo Chavez] thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."
—Pat Robertson, Black Ops Man of The Cloth
"The most used phrase in my administration if I were to be President would be 'What the hell you mean we're out of missiles?!'"
"'Well, suck on this!!' That, Charlie, was what this war was about."
—Thomas Friendman to Charlie Rose on supporting the Iraq War
The problem was that Panama technically belonged to Colombia, which refused to sign a treaty leasing it to the United States. So Roosevelt sent a gunboat filled with marines down to Panama, just on the off chance that a revolution might suddenly break out, and darned if one didn't, two days later. Not only that, but the leaders of the new nation of Panama—talk about lucky breaks!—were absolutely thrilled to have the United States build a canal there. "Really, it's our pleasure," they told the marines, adding, "Don't shoot."
The use of force is easy to rationalize in terms of basic economics. "We should make them PAY for what they've done!" It's just the law of demand: raise the price of crossing us, and fewer people will cross us. Make the price another Hiroshima, and perhaps the quantity demanded will fall to zero.
— Bryan Caplan, 'Why Most Economists Are Hawks'
"As the Times editorial page hysterically described Reagan's first year in office: Mr. Reagan looked at the world through gun sights. Yes, he did! And now the Evil Empire is no more."
—Ann Coulter
"I think if this country gets any kinder or gentler, it's literally going to cease to exist."
—Donald Trump, 1990 Playboy interview
If we are willing to act violently in pursuit of a peripheral interest, everyone can be certain that, when a vital interest is at stake, we will be still more violent. "Credibility" is defined as the willingness to kill a lot of people now for a not very good cause to assure the world that we’ll kill a lot more people if we can find a better one.
— Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, "No More Mr. Tough Guy"
All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.
—Charter of the United Nations, article 2(4)
