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Shawords

Quote#War

These arguments about natural defences and strategic boundaries are…

Quote byRobert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh · 1769–1822

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Remarks to the representative of Geneva, Charles Pictet de Rochemont, who opposed the French claim to the Pays de Gex (May 1814), quoted in C. K. Webster, The Foreign Policy of Castlereagh 1812–1815: Britain and the Reconstruction of Europe (1931), p. 268.

English (original)

These arguments about natural defences and strategic boundaries are pushed too far. Real defence and security comes from the guarantee which is given by the fact that they cannot touch you without declaring war on all those interested in maintaining things as they are.

— Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh

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