Geopolitics Quotes

“It has to be admitted that starving nations never seem to be quite so starving that they cannot afford to have far more expensive armaments than anybody else.”
― T.H. White, The Once and Future King

“Most Americans are close to total ignorance about the world. They are ignorant. That is an unhealthy condition in a country in which foreign policy has to be endorsed by the people if it is to be pursued. And it makes it much more difficult for any president to pursue an intelligent policy that does justice to the complexity of the world.”
― Zbigniew Brzezinski

“[American exceptionalism] is a reaction to the inability of people to understand global complexity or important issues like American energy dependency. Therefore, they search for simplistic sources of comfort and clarity. And the people that they are now selecting to be, so to speak, the spokespersons of their anxieties are, in most cases, stunningly ignorant.”
― Zbigniew Brzezinski

“For the first time we can perceive something of the real proportion of features and events on the stage of the whole world, and may seek a formula which shall express certain aspects, at any rate, of geographical causation in universal history.”
― Halford John Mackinder

“When [Ivan] Ilyin wrote that the art of politics was “identifying and neutralizing the enemy,” he did not mean that statesmen should ascertain which foreign power actually posed a threat. He meant that politics began with a leader’s decision about which foreign enmity will consolidate a dictatorship. Russia’s real geopolitical problem was China. But precisely because Chinese power was real and proximate, considering Russia’s actual geopolitics might lead to depressing conclusions.

The West was chosen as an enemy precisely because it represented no threat to Russia. Unlike China, the EU had no army and no long border with Russia. The United States did have an army, but had withdrawn the vast majority of its troops from the European continent: from about 300,000 in 1991 to about 60,000 in 2012. NATO still existed and had admitted former communist countries of eastern Europe. But President Barack Obama had cancelled an American plan to build a missile defense system in eastern Europe in 2009, and in 2010 Russia was allowing American planes to fly through Russian airspace to supply American forces in Afghanistan. No Russian leader feared a NATO invasion in 2011 or 2012, or even pretended to.”
― Timothy Snyder, The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America

“Orphanizers (Demilitarization Sonnet, 1303)

Show me a nation with a huge defense budget,
I'll show you a demented nation.
Show me a nation with a big education budget,
I'll show you a nation of the future.

Disband the soldiers, empower the teachers,
Thus you plant the paradigm of peace.
Abolish all pride in nation's military,
Thus you emerge as maker of peace.

The real warmongers of the world are,
Not the world leaders, but the civilians,
Who can't think past the strength of military,
Who take pride in a genocidal arsenal of weapons.

With such civilian primitiveness rampant in society,
No conference can ensure the promise of peace.
If you really want to ensure peace on planet earth,
Denounce all politics and democracy militarist.

Stop taking pride in your national military,
That very pride floods the world with orphans.
Amidst the herd of widowmakers and orphanizers,
Wake up alone, and slogan for demilitarization!”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“Pro Government or Pro Human Rights
(Earth Administrative Service, Sonnet 1304)

Either pro government or pro human rights,
A civilized human cannot be both.
Doesn't mean you're always anti government,
It means you pledge no one blanket support.

Gaza has made it more evident than ever,
No politician got the guts to rock the boat.
When the chips are down and balloon goes up,
Politicians hide behind the diplomacy door.

World leeches masquerading as world leaders,
Would sell their mothers if the price is right.
Sheeply civilians don't do much to change things,
So they seek comfort in snobbish arguments on AI.

Dump all autocratic nonsense of law-abidance,
Tell the right from wrong by conscience rule.
If you want human rights to reign supreme,
Wake up and be the world leader of your hood.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“Citizenry is the problem,
Citizenry is the answer.
When citizenry decides on peace,
Albeit reluctant, world leaders wither.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Yaralardan Yangın Doğar: Explorers of Night are Emperors of Dawn

“Before being sworn into office, every head of state should spend a week in space, gathering some sense of the insurmountable gravity of our little blue home in the unfathomable vastness of the cosmos. Perhaps then when they return to earth, they could actually work for the benefit of the people of earth, rather than wasting their term in office like yet another tribal savage obsessing over petty nationalistic agenda.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“How to Train Your Head of State (The Sonnet)

We shall achieve more by
blasting politicians into space,
than by blasting satellites
to other planets.

They'll leave earth as warmongers,
and return as peacemakers.
They'll leave earth as mindless apes,
and return as mindful humans.

In the middle of absolute vacuum,
mind grows fond of the warmth of home.
Fondness born of existential crisis,
never subsides even after you return
to your comfort zone.

When you are floating in space untethered,
each speck of earthland is equally priceless.
Then you'll realize the fallacy of borders -
Nation-nonsense will fade,
and earth will be your primary sense.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“We shall achieve more by blasting politicians into space, than by blasting satellites to other planets. They'll leave earth as warmongers, and return as peacemakers. They'll leave earth as mindless apes, and return as mindful humans.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“...and everyone discovers that people are not maximizing utility... they're murdering each other... and so then the Geopolitics gets let back in.”
― Stephen Kotkin

“Give me a team of five, with an engineer, physicist, mathematician, coder and composer, and I'll improvise a nation impenetrable, without needing to kill a single soldier.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“Citizens fund the war, citizens pay the price.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“World leeches masquerading as world leaders, would sell their mothers if the price is right.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“You don't have to be a superpower to be a peacemaker.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Politicians don't have race, politicians don't have religion, politicians don't have nationality. You may think, this is a good thing - well, in this case, it's not. You know why? Because their race is self-interest - their religion is self-interest - their nationality is self-interest. Politicians can be white, black, brown or martian - but once a moron, always a moron. Some monkeys are white, some monkeys are colored, but inside they are not white or colored - they are politicians - which means, they are all monkeys.

And the exception to this norm often comes from not so popular parts of the world - for example, South Africa. Which only proves that, you don't need to be a so-called geopolitical superpower to do what's right - you don't have to be a superpower to be a peacemaker. In fact in most cases, the so-called superpowers are the most morally bankrupt states in the world. Because guess what - governments don't exist to do the right thing, governments exist to do whatever keeps them in power. And the day the politics of self-interest comes to an end, there will be no longer any need for activists, humanitarians and reformers.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Dear li'l governments (The Sonnet)

Dear li'l governments of the world,

You don't have a friend in me,
If people are not your priority.
You don't have a friend in me,
If you thrive on inequality.

You don't have a friend in me,
If you're partial to one religion.
You don't have a friend in me,
If you're founded on nationalism.

Dear li'l governments of the world,
If you know what's best for you,
Walk the course of integration.
If you choose tribalism instead,
In me you'll find your abolition.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Dervis Vadisi: 100 Promissory Sonnets

“My Struggle (Sonnet 1500)

My struggle is to build a world, where
gestapo, mi6, cia, raw, all are history;
where thieves aren't glorified as heroes,
invasion isn't sugarcoated as security;

military is found only in books of history,
where guns are displayed in museum as relics;
nukes are just defense against celestial threat,
where green sources power all things electric;

where it's illegal to amass limitless wealth -
food, housing, education, healthcare, are free;
where no one can be politician without license,
where citizens listen to experts, not celebrity.

My struggle is to build a world, where
human rights is a human issue, not legal one;
where equality is not a belief, but the norm -
where human is neither ape nor robot, but human.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Dervis Vadisi: 100 Promissory Sonnets

“Until the entire earth is one nation, there is no earth.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amantes Assemble: 100 Sonnets of Servant Sultans

“World is my brotherhood.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Yüz Şiirlerin Yüzüğü (Ring of 100 Poems, Bilingual Edition): 100 Turkish Poems with Translations

“Little Planet on The Prairie
(New Earth Anthem)

New Earth is an art of love,
not a stain of hateful ignorance.
New Earth is a land of promise,
not of greed and indifference.

New Earth is a blank canvas,
we gotta decide what we paint -
masterpiece of an inclusive dawn,
or a bloody reminder of apish days.

New Earth is a better Earth,
we no longer thirst after blood.
We toil together without divide,
to be a gentle beacon in the cosmos.

Hijab, habit, turban, all are equal,
It's bigotry that is unacceptable.
On our New Earth character is supreme,
primitive traditions are expendable.

Existence here is an art of love,
at our planet on the cosmic prairie.
New Earth is a celebration of life,
not a validation of ruinous rigidity.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Democracy is people-approved dictatorship.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tum Dunya Tek Millet: Greatest Country on Earth is Earth

“Prioritizing military over education, we only build a world full of terrorists.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Yaralardan Yangın Doğar: Explorers of Night are Emperors of Dawn

“Love of country is the root of all war.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Armistice Sonnet

Ceasefire is a diplomatic gimmick,
They cease only to hit back harder.
Demilitarization is what we need,
We got no use for one more ceasefire.

Ceasefire only postpones war,
disarmament instills peace.
Armistice empowers armament,
demilitarization plants peace.

Tyrants don't call truce to allow aid,
but only to rearm themselves,
so they can call in more ammunition,
from their apely imperialist friends.

One more ceasefire we could do without,
World is wailing for the final ceasefire.
Disown every statesman who prides military,
Builders of military are merchants of murder.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Peace, A Crime Against State
(The Sonnet)

There's no difference between
a soldier and a contract killer.
Hitmen are paid to kill individuals,
Soldiers are paid to kill in bulk.

Righteous soldiers don't exist,
they only exist in fairytale movies.
No academy trains youngsters for peace,
they manufacture state-abiding terrorists.

If any soldier ever wakes up to peace,
they're instantly discharged without honor.
Thinking soldiers are no use to state,
States only want brainless suicide bombers.

Enemy of war is enemy of the state,
Making of peace is crime against state.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Peace is a crime against state.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Beyond Borders and Dogma
(Sonnet 1590)

Monkeys obsess over chunks of land,
takes a human to home the world.
Leeches obsess over guns and badges,
takes a human to deck the halls.

Beyond borders and dogma,
beyond division and doctrine,
beyond malignant maleficence,
everyone is my kith and kin.

Any ape can boast about their culture,
I'll die roaring for every culture
on earth, except my own.
Monkeys obsess over chunks of land,
I stand guard till all are one.

Nationalists mark borders by raising guns,
like dogs mark their territory by raising legs.
Monkeys seek refuge in archaic sovereignty,
Human am I, my refuge is the human race.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Every animal knows to love self,
Takes a human to love beyond.
Every baboon fears barbwire,
Takes a human to love beyond.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets