Word: palmerstonism
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Consider the story of Don Pacifico, with which every student of nineteenth-century Britain is undoubtedly familiar. Pacifico was a British citizen living in Greece. In 1847 a horde of Athenians burned down his home during an anti-Semitic riot. British foreign secretary Lord Palmerston eventutally responded with a naval blockade of the Greek coast. Addressing the House of Commons shortly thereafter, Palmerston proclaimed, “As the Roman in days of old held himself free from indignity when he could say ‘Civis Romanus Sum’ [‘I am a Roman citizen?...
...soldiers in changing "coalitions of the willing." Why maximize nuisance value à la française if you can use your voting stock? Can Bush, Schröder and Chirac change perspective - or will it be back to the future of 19th century power politics? In those days, Lord Palmerston famously proclaimed: "We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies;" only "our interests are eternal and perpetual." In the 21st century it is exactly the other way round: our interests keep changing, but our friends, ornery and spiteful as they may sometimes be, remain the same...
...time for both countries to sort out their problems and move forward. It will take some strong leadership on both sides. But it is possible that the Elian affair could act as the catalyst for a new alliance--the Elian treaty--between Cuba and the U.S. LES BATY Palmerston North, New Zealand...
...problem with altruism as the prime mover of foreign policy is that altruism is a sentiment, not a strategy. And to paraphrase Lord Palmerston, America has no permanent sentiments, only permanent interests. The Emir of Kuwait, living high on the hog in Saudi Arabia waiting to be returned to his palace by American troops, was no more worthy or sympathetic a figure than Jean-Bertrand Aristide. But it did not matter much. America had more than altruistic reasons for going into Kuwait. Real, tangible, important things were at stake: oil, nuclear weapons, the future of the Middle East...
...19th century, isms mattered little; national purposes varied from case to case, region to region, year to year. Lord Palmerston summed it up in 1848: "We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and these interests it is our duty to follow." Great powers had some goals in common, others in conflict, and they adjusted the mix of cooperation and competition in their dealings accordingly...