"America's focus today should be on how to build peace, not on how to justify another war," former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright told an audience in the Gantcher Center yesterday while delivering the 2007 Issam M. Fares lecture.
In her lecture she focused primarily on Iraq, but also included general advice garnered from her years working in foreign policy.
Aside from her service as secretary of state, Albright has also been a senior fellow in Soviet and Eastern European Affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and ambassador to the United Nations.
She began by urging that those guiding America's foreign policy look to historical precedent to guide their actions.
"Before making decisions that will affect our future, leaders should study carefully the lessons of the past," Albright said.
She used the ill-advised Athenian invasion of Sicily roughly 2,400 years ago as a parallel to America's preemptive strike on Iraq. Both were driven by the assumption that victory was inevitable in the face of Greek, or American, military might.
"The Athenian invasion reminds us of the danger of being too sure we are right," she said. "When making a decision there is a vital distinction between confidence and certainty."
Except in rare cases such as genocide, when ethical obligations seem unequivocal, good leaders should never follow a fixed course, but instead should adjust their actions as the situation requires, Albright said. "A confident leader will reconsider views on the basis of new information," she said.
Still, Albright hinted at a dangerous line between confidence and arrogance. "A morally certain leader will reject all advice that does not agree with what he or she thinks," she said.
Albright was also wary of President George W. Bush's heavily criticized plans to prolong the American presence in Iraq. "I agree with the president that it would be a disaster for us to leave Iraq under the circumstances, but it would be a disaster to stay," she said.
Particularly problematic, she said, is that the difficulty of separating foe from friend when combating an insurgency may undercut the efforts of U.S. troops and put them in danger of unanticipated attacks. "If I was a soldier in Iraq, I wouldn't know who to shoot at until I was shot at, and that is untenable," she said.
According to Albright, U.S. policy in Iraq needs to acknowledge that diplomacy is a better means of securing the country than military force. "If there is to be a solution in Iraq, it will come about from political means," she said.
Albright also dismissed those who have painted conflict in the Middle East as an absolute battle between good and evil, saying that this is a radical oversimplification. "Armageddon is not a foreign policy," she said.
The former secretary of state also said that deteriorating relations between the United States and Iran arise from a clash of ideology, but that these differences can be overcome and the fracture is not irreparable.
Albright ended her speech on a hopeful note, citing the strong student interest in her speech as a sign that young, politically engaged students can take up the mantle of pursuing peace in an often volatile and turbulent world.
"While people have the capacity to choose, they have the capacity to change," she said. "With all the things going on today, I am asked am I an optimist or a pessimist. I answer [that] I am an optimist that worries a lot."
The lecture ended with students asking Albright various questions relating to her past decisions, which she answered candidly. "The good thing about not being secretary of state anymore is I can actually answer your questions," she said.
Freshman Emma Hanson expressed her excitement at the presence of such a powerful figure among Tufts students.
"Madeleine Albright is just a really inspiring woman," she said. "I think it is one of those things - you come to college thinking that you are going to see great lecturers. I didn't want to miss out on this one."
Freshman James Rogers said that the lecture made him appreciate Tufts' ability to host such prominent and passionate speakers. "The opportunity presented by seeing someone that has the kind of world experience that Madeleine Albright does is one of the privileges that we have in going to a school like this," he said.
President Lawrence Bacow, Director of the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies Leila Fawaz, and Nijad Issam Fares, representing the Fares family, delivered introductory speeches.
First conceived of in 1991 by current trustee Fares I. Fares (LA '93), the lecture series is supported by the Fares Foundation.
His father, Issam M. Fares, for whom the lecture is named, is currently a member of the Lebanese Parliament and formerly the deputy prime minister of Lebanon.
The goal of the lecture is to improve understanding of situations in the Middle East by hosting seasoned experts with relevant knowledge, Bacow said.
