As a student at Wellesley College in the 1950s, Madeleine Albright said she could never have imagined that one day she would be the U.S. secretary of state. But throughout her career, Albright has proven that anything is possible.
Saturday night, the Social Planning and Events Connaissance Committee hosted "An Evening with Madeleine K. Albright" at Irvine Auditorium. As the first female U.S. secretary of state, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, author and professor, Albright was an obvious choice.
She began her address by saying how honored she was to speak. Penn, she said, was very different from her own college experience, which she described as an education that attempted to groom the all-female student population for marriage, rather than a career.
Her speech took a more serious turn as Albright gave her assessment of the current state of world affairs. She praised President Barack Obama for his focus on global relations, although she admitted that he has his work cut out for him.
"While most presidents inherit headaches, President Obama has inherited the whole emergency room," Albright said.
She said the biggest issue facing the U.S. is the economy. She said in the 21st century, the economies of every country are inseparable and the nation cannot resolve the issue alone.
She also could not ignore the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"You don't have to make peace with your friends - you make peace with your enemies," she emphasized.
She briefly discussed Obama's withdrawal calendar for Iraq, and then turned the focus to Afghanistan.
Albright offered her own solutions to the issues, including training Afghan forces and ensuring that the Taliban have no safe havens.
Additionally Albright offered her opinion that U.S. involvement in these countries is actually creating more terrorism and giving the terrorist groups material for propaganda.
"You can't impose democracy," she said. "That's an oxymoron."
Albright concluded her speech by reminding audience members that as citizens, they should not complain but should move to action. She said Obama brings out the best in people by "reminding us that in a democracy the kind of government we have is a reflection of the kind of people that we are."
After the speech, audience members participated in a question-and-answer session.
While most students had a positive reaction to the event, some were not satisfied by Albright's presentation.
Wharton exchange student Amaury Decludt said he "didn't like the speech because it was too general."
However, College junior Lindsay Eierman disagreed, saying that Albright was "very witty and very feisty."
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