A compilation of recent remarks made at Amherst.
“Many Americans look at some miserable dictator and the first question is: Well, how can we get rid of this guy? That should be your second question. Your first question is: Why is that guy there?”
Christopher R. Hill, assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
In a speech titled, “The Ethics of Diplomacy: Conscience and Pragmatism in Foreign Affairs”
Jan. 30, 2008, Johnson Chapel
“We get a bald spot, we declare war on it. Football is war. Sex is war. Business is war. Everything in America is war, except for actual war.”
Thomas Barnett, who’s worked in national security affairs since the end of the Cold War
Discussing his New York Times bestseller,
The Pentagon’s New Map: War and Peace in the 21st Century
March 31, 2008, Pruyne Lecture Hall
“People talked about Karl Rove building a Republican era that would go on for a long time. It was never likely to happen, and not because Karl Rove is not a good politician—he’s probably one of the best builders in the history of presidential politics. But you can’t build that way. It doesn’t work.”
David Mayhew ’58, Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University
Discussing American presidential elections
Feb. 26, 2008, Pruyne Lecture Hall
“When I look at America and the American Dream and how elusive it seems, today, for so many people—not just African-Americans but also poor whites in Appalachia—I think that we need to create equal opportunity for our own citizens first.”
Carol Swain, professor of law and politics at Vanderbilt University
During a debate on immigration
March 5, 2008, Cole Assembly Room
“I’m worried because, history teaches us, fear of the stranger can get out of hand. Fear of the stranger can be stirred.”
Rick Swartz ’72, president of Strategic Solutions in Washington, D.C.
During the same immigration debate
March 5, 2008, Cole Assembly Room