"You are either going forward or you are not"
About this Quote
Diplomats don’t get the luxury of poetic ambiguity, and Mitchell Reiss’s line has the clipped, operational bite of someone who’s watched “strategic patience” curdle into strategic drift. “You are either going forward or you are not” is less motivational poster than a bureaucratic stress test: it forces a binary where institutions love gradients, caveats, and process. The sentence is built to corner an audience that wants credit for movement without accepting the costs of motion.
The intent is managerial and political at once. In negotiation rooms, “forward” is a loaded verb: it can mean de-escalating, ratcheting up pressure, locking in a timeline, or simply refusing to let a bad status quo masquerade as stability. Reiss is signaling impatience with performative activity - meetings, statements, “constructive talks” - that produce no change in incentives or facts on the ground. If nothing shifts, you’re not standing still; you’re falling behind.
The subtext is also moral. A binary frame denies the comfort of neutrality. It implies that stalling is a choice with consequences, and that half-measures aren’t prudence but avoidance. That’s classic diplomatic realism dressed as plain speech: the world doesn’t pause while you workshop language.
Contextually, it fits a post-Cold War, post-9/11 policy environment where “progress” became a fetish and “process” became a shield. Reiss’s sentence punctures both. It’s a small act of rhetorical discipline aimed at a profession that often survives by keeping options open.
The intent is managerial and political at once. In negotiation rooms, “forward” is a loaded verb: it can mean de-escalating, ratcheting up pressure, locking in a timeline, or simply refusing to let a bad status quo masquerade as stability. Reiss is signaling impatience with performative activity - meetings, statements, “constructive talks” - that produce no change in incentives or facts on the ground. If nothing shifts, you’re not standing still; you’re falling behind.
The subtext is also moral. A binary frame denies the comfort of neutrality. It implies that stalling is a choice with consequences, and that half-measures aren’t prudence but avoidance. That’s classic diplomatic realism dressed as plain speech: the world doesn’t pause while you workshop language.
Contextually, it fits a post-Cold War, post-9/11 policy environment where “progress” became a fetish and “process” became a shield. Reiss’s sentence punctures both. It’s a small act of rhetorical discipline aimed at a profession that often survives by keeping options open.
Quote Details
| Topic | Moving On |
|---|
More Quotes by Mitchell
Add to List
