"And, perhaps most importantly, regional conflicts will again and again confront us with a cruel choice between costly engagement and costly indifference"

This quote by Lord Robertson speaks to the truth of local disputes and the tough choices that must be made in order to address them. He suggests that these disputes will often present us with a hard choice between costly engagement and costly indifference. To put it simply, we need to choose whether to invest resources in fixing the dispute or to ignore it and accept the effects. This is a challenging decision to make, as both alternatives include considerable expenses. Taking part in a dispute can be costly in regards to resources, time, and lives, while indifference can result in further suffering and instability. Lord Robertson's quote works as a tip of the tough choices that must be made in order to address regional conflicts.