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Commerce, promotion of, by ambassadors: It is an ambassador's duty to secure the general welfare of his homeland by advancing its commercial interests. He should strive to open doors to competition from contracts and investments by his country's businesses, but they, and he, must recognize that only they can actually conclude and implement such contracts. In the end, trade rightly goes to those who offer the most attractive product, the best price, the most advantageous financing, and the fastest, most reliable delivery of the goods or services at issue, not to those who invoke political preference.
Commerce, selfish spirit of: "The selfish spirit of commerce knows no country; and feels no passion or principle but that of gain."
— Thomas Jefferson, 1809
Commerce, source of war: "There was never a war at arms that was not merely the extension of a preceding war of commerce grown fiercer until the weapons of commerce seemed no longer sufficiently deadly."
— Hugh S. Johnson, 1935
Communications, secutiry of: "The peacemaker requires secure reporting channels that protect him as well as the parties. Foreign parties are less likely to divulge their thinking on life-and-death security issues if the details of sensitive trades are going to appear in legislative hearings or media reports. In a democracy, there is a natural urge for openness, including full disclosure of other people's business. While respecting that urge, the mediator soon learns that the 'right' to information is most often asserted by those with the strongest motivation to scuttle the negotiation."
— Chester A. Crocker, 1992
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Chas W. Freeman Jr. (The Diplomat's Dictionary)