Phil Taylor's papers
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BACK TO : PROPAGANDA AND THE GWOT Year 3 - 2004 (mainly Iraq)
Power and Persuasion (Albright) by Laura Secor 
Power and persuasion Albright talks about good wars, bad diplomacy, and a strong foreign policy for Democrats By Laura Secor, Boston Globe, 1/18/2004 CAMBRIDGE -- It was not always easy being a female civilian among military men, former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright cheerfully informed the crowd that gathered last Monday at the First Parish Church for a discussion, sponsored by the Harvard Book Store, with Albright and former US treasury secretary Robert Rubin. In his memoirs, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell wrote that he practically had an "aneurysm" when Albright suggested that the United States intervene in Bosnia. He had to "patiently" explain to her that American soldiers were not toy soldiers. "Patiently?" Albright teased him when she read the passage. Powell inscribed a copy of his book to her, "With admiration and friendship, patiently yours, Colin Powell." Albright fired back a thank-you note signed, "With admiration and friendship, forcefully yours, Madeleine Albright." That combination of steeliness and good humor has made Albright's memoir, "Madam Secretary" (Miramax), a bestseller. Albright also has a unique story to tell, as the highest-ranking woman in the history of US government, and a Czechoslovak immigrant who arrived on American shores in 1948 at the age of 11. As secretary of state, the hawkish Albright clashed with a dovish Pentagon over how to handle the breakup of Yugoslavia. Her stalwart advocacy of the Kosovo war made Albright's name synonymous with the doctrine of humanitarian intervention by the end of her tenure. Indeed, in its earliest and most uncertain stages, Kosovo was nicknamed "Madeleine's war." ("Once we started winning it, it became someone else's war," Albright drily informed the crowd.) These days, Albright is a fierce critic of what she considers the Bush administration's unilateralism and overreliance on military might. While Albright does not advocate pulling out of Iraq -- "You can't create a mess like this and leave," she said on Monday -- she suggested that the administration show some humility in order to regain the trust and cooperation of other nations and international institutions: "The United States doesn't have to apologize, but it could say mistakes were made." She declined to endorse any single Democratic presidential candidate for 2004. "I believe that any Democrat will be better than what we have," Albright said. "But we can't run on a message of doom and gloom. We have to convey a positive message of how to bring America back to what it should be. We can't want to fail in Iraq. We can't want to fail in the economy." Like her fellow speaker Rubin, Albright waxed nostalgic for the Clinton era. "We worked for a president who told us what to read, and he had actually read the books himself and wanted to have a discussion about them," she recalled. "That's why he was late all the time -- he'd have meetings and they'd all run over, with the discussions going on so long. Now we have a president who is punctiliously on time because he doesn't ask questions." Ideas caught up with Albright for brief conversation after her talk. IDEAS: What foreign policy principles do you think the Democratic nominee should emphasize in 2004? ALBRIGHT: We ought to be talking about partnership and cooperation. . .. Our strength comes from having allies. They are not Lilliputians trying to tie down Gulliver, they are a force multiplier and help us to achieve what we need. . .. I also think we need to explain better what America stands for, that our power is not just military power but the power of our ideas -- offered, not imposed. I do happen to believe that everybody actually is the same and that people want democracy. But you can't impose democracy. That in itself is an oxymoron. It's more a matter of offering democracy. . .. We understand the breadth of what national security is about these days, and it is not just about using our military. As fine as the military is, it can't solve all the problems we have. IDEAS: One of the great achievements of your tenure was the nonviolent democratic transition in Serbia. Are there lessons from Serbia that could be applied elsewhere in the world? ALBRIGHT: . . .. The real lesson for me right now out of Serbia is that they have elected a fairly nationalist parliament. And the lesson is that these jobs are not always finished quickly, and that the United States in a variety of ways has to keep its eye on the ball and has to realize that democracy anywhere is very fragile, that it doesn't happen overnight. . .. You can offer democracy and help those people within any country who have a desire to go in that direction. But . . . attention must be paid. And now we are so focused on using our military power, primarily in Iraq, that we have forgotten various other parts of the world that are also important. IDEAS: In your book you write that you never again want to hear that idealism and realism are competing strains in American foreign policy. You advocate a pragmatic blend of both. Do you see the Bush administration as following in that tradition, or as tipping too far in an activist direction? ALBRIGHT: What I see is that they think they have coopted Wilsonianism. . .. I feel that the most realistic American foreign policy is one that is based upon our values and is idealistic. But our values do not mean that we go around and tell people, "You have to have our form of democracy, and you have to have it within three months, and these are the people who we suggest run your country." It has to come from below. So I must say that I'm kind of . . . shocked that they all of a sudden think that they're Wilsonian. That's not my interpretation of what Wilson had in mind. IDEAS: Tonight you mentioned that there is a "toxic" atmosphere now in Washington. What's changed? ALBRIGHT: I've lived in Washington since 1968. And while Democrats and Republicans disagree on many issues, we actually used to get together and talk about them. Now there is much more of a sense that there is not a civil discussion between Republicans and Democrats. You walk into a party and somebody will say, "I'm a Republican," and they walk away. . .. I think the "You're either with us or against us" that has been propounded internationally has some domestic resonance. What I resent is that if you ask questions you are accused of not being patriotic. I happen to believe that the greatest duty that any citizen has is to be informed, and to ask questions in order to be informed. IDEAS: You chaired the Pew Global Attitudes Project, which surveyed 39,000 people in 44 cities and documented a rising fear and dislike of the United States abroad. Do you think a change in US leadership would reverse that trend, or is the problem deeper? ALBRIGHT: The Pew data show that people abroad like American culture, technology, and ideas. They don't like the policies. And so it would seem that it would be easier to reverse if you had a different set of policies. But when I traveled around Europe with my book, I got . . . a sense that things were much more serious than I thought. . .. There is a generation of young Europeans who do not have the experience of seeing what the United States did during World War II, or the cooperation during the Cold War. They are basing their opinions on what they see now. . . . The Europeans are also partially to blame. . .. The lack of use of the United Nations in Iraq can be blamed on Bush and [French president Jacques] Chirac. Because Bush said, "I don't care what the Security Council says," and Chirac said, "I'll veto anything the Security Council says." So between the two of them they have managed to damage not only the institution but also the relationship. . . . During the Kosovo war . . . I went to Europe . . . once a month, or met some Europeans somewhere. It took a lot of work. That's what real consultation is about. And even under those circumstances, they weren't fully satisfied. So you can't order sovereign nations to just salute every time we say so. Laura Secor is the staff writer for Ideas. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company. |