Chuck Hagel Quotes

The United States can't impose democracies. We can't impose our will. The Russians found that out in Afghanistan.

The United Nations has a critical role to play in promoting stability, security, democracy, human rights, and economic development. The UN is as relevant today as at any time in its history, but it needs reform.

The Israeli people must be free to live in peace and security.

People are not trying to get into China, they're trying to get out of China. The United States is the only great country where people are trying to get into to this country for obvious reasons.

Peace comes through dealing with people. Peace doesn't come at the end of a bayonet or the end of a gun.

Our foreign policy needs to support our energy, economic, defense and domestic policies. It all falls within the arch of national interest. There will be windows of opportunity, but they will open and close quickly.

Our alliances should be understood as a means to expand our influence, not as a constraint on our power. The expansion of democracy and freedom in the world should be a shared interest and value with all nations.

No one individual vote, no one individual quote or no one individual statement defines me, my beliefs, or my record.

No border that touches Israel is always secure.

Nations, great nations have limitations. All nations have limitations. Even great powers have limitations.

My overall worldview has never changed: that America has and must maintain the strongest military in the world, that we must lead the international community to confront threats and challenges together, and that we must use all tools of American power to protect our citizens and our interests.

It is easy to get into war, not so easy to get out.

Institutions are imperfect. Governments surely are. People are.

Imposing democracy through force is a roll of the dice.

I'm not saying my idea is the one and only idea. We should have other ideas, but the president has not laid down a specific plan as to how he's going to get us to solvency. I do that.

I'm a supporter of Israel, always have been.

I would not trade America's position in the world - our ledger, our debts and assets - for any country in the world. There isn't a country in the world even close to America.

I have said many times that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism.

I have never believed you go to war in Iraq, you go to war in Afghanistan, and believe that you can deal with those battlefields, those countries, in microcosms, or narrow channels.

I am fully supportive of 'open service' and committed to LGBT military families.

Foreign policy will require a strategic agility that, whenever possible, gets ahead of problems, strengthens U.S. security and alliances, and promotes American interests and credibility.

Foreign policy is all about a universe of bad decisions, imperfect decisions; every situation is different. The dynamics, the atmospherics, the people, the pressures, the geopolitical realities shift.

Engagement is not appeasement. Engagement is not surrender.

Bogging down large armies in historically complex, dangerous areas ends in disaster.

Alliances and international organizations should be understood as opportunities for leadership and a means to expand our influence, not as constraints on our power.