Feb. 4, 2004

Give-and-Take with Albright

Former Secretary of State Addresses GW Students

By Tara Boyle

Describing her time leading the State Department as the “best job in the world,” former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright led a wide-ranging discussion on foreign policy at the Elliott School of International Affairs Jan. 20.

Albright, who received an honorary Doctor of Laws at GW’s 2000 Commencement, told an audience of more than 300 students, faculty and community members that the US reputation abroad has suffered since the end of the Clinton administration. She also criticized the Bush administration for its handling of the nuclear crisis in North Korea and the “problem” with Iraq.

“That’s what happens when you give the job of secretary of state to a man,” she joked.

The event was structured as a give-and-take between Albright and students, who asked for her opinion on current events in Ukraine, Liberia, North Korea and other parts of the world. She also offered advice to those who aspire to a career in politics. “It is much harder to be a policymaker than you think,” she said. “You rarely make a completely new decision. Things are incremental. …You have to choose your fights carefully.”

Albright, the former US permanent representative to the UN, argued that the UN should be given a more prominent role in resolving international disputes. She voiced praise for Secretary-General Kofi Annan and spoke frankly about her time at the UN, saying her biggest regret was that the organization did not “act as many thought we should have” to halt the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.

The former secretary of state also said that the US should work to repair its relationship with its allies. During the Clinton administration, she argued, “we saw American power as the ability to help people through development assistance, to try to build the international organizations… Partnership was the operational noun.”
Albright is the highest-ranking woman to have served in the federal government. She is the founder of the Albright Group LLC, a global strategy firm, and teaches at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Her speech came on the heels of the publication of her new book, “Madam Secretary: A Memoir.” She described the book as an attempt to “give some context to the history we’ve just experienced,” and signed hundreds of copies for students following the discussion.

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