Quotable: Getting cooties from the Iranians

How immature is it that we have to pretend for American domestic political reasons that we’re going to get cooties from the Iranians unless they go to the bathroom first and wash their hands? Are we a major power or not?” – George Perkovich, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, ...

How immature is it that we have to pretend for American domestic political reasons that we’re going to get cooties from the Iranians unless they go to the bathroom first and wash their hands? Are we a major power or not?”

How immature is it that we have to pretend for American domestic political reasons that we’re going to get cooties from the Iranians unless they go to the bathroom first and wash their hands? Are we a major power or not?”

– George Perkovich, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, New York Times, March 9, 2007, referring to an international conference in Baghdad where Iranian and U.S. diplomats briefly spoke on Saturday

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.