Science Quote by Mohamed ElBaradei

ElBaradei’s line wears the lab coat of neutrality, but it’s doing political work. “I hope” signals restraint, the calibrated modesty of a technocrat who knows public language can inflame as much as it can soothe. It’s a plea framed as principle: not a demand, not a threat, not even a diagnosis. That matters coming from a scientist-diplomat whose authority has often rested on procedure and verification rather than charisma. The sentence borrows credibility from that identity: the voice of someone trained to distrust improvisation.

“Everybody” is the sharp edge. It flattens moral hierarchies, refusing to bless one side as uniquely reasonable or uniquely guilty. That inclusiveness is both the point and the controversy: it implies that responsibility is shared and that legitimacy comes from participation, not righteousness. Critics hear false equivalence; supporters hear the only language that keeps doors from slamming shut.

“Go back” suggests a lost moment of possibility. It’s not “start negotiations” but return to a place where rules existed and outcomes were at least imaginable. The “only way forward” phrase is classic crisis rhetoric: it narrows the menu, not by proving alternatives impossible, but by making them sound childish or reckless. ElBaradei doesn’t sell peace as virtue; he sells it as logistics. The subtext is a warning to the absolutists: escalation may feel decisive, but it’s strategically lazy. Negotiation, in this framing, is not compromise as weakness; it’s the last remaining technology for preventing catastrophe.