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Hypocrisy, double standards, and "but nots" are the price of universalist pretensions. Democracy is promoted, but not if it brings Islamic fundamentalists to power; nonproliferation is preached for Iran and Iraq, but not for Israel; free trade is the elixir of economic growth, but not for agriculture; human rights are an issue for China, but not with Saudi Arabia; aggression against oil-owning Kuwaitis is massively repulsed, but not against non-oil-owning Bosnians. Double standards in practice are the unavoidable price of universal standards of principle.

— Samuel P. Huntington The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (1996)

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More quotes by Samuel P. Huntington

Undoubtedly many more people in the world are concerned with sports than with human rights.

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (1996)

In the post-Cold War world, for the first time in history, global politics has become multipolar and multicivilizational.

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (1996)

The most important groupings of states are no longer the three blocs of the Cold War but rather the world’s seven or eight major civilizations.

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (1996)

Many more people in the world are concerned with sports than with human rights.

The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order (1997)

Those who do not recognize fundamental divides, however, are doomed to be frustrated by them.

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (1996)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Samuel P. Huntington (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.