The seats were filled last night when Madeleine Albright came to the Mondavi Center to discuss her life, her political career and her concerns for the future.

A former secretary of the state and ambassador to the United Nations, Albright played a prominent role in global politics during the Clinton administration. A self-described “idealistic realist,” Albright said she sought justice and peace through diplomacy and democracy, though she was well aware of how challenging that could be.

“Believe in the fact that we are all the same,” Albright said. “Don’t believe that people aren’t ready for democracy – believe people aren’t ready for anything else.”

Albright was once the highest-ranking female official in the United States government.

“She definitely paved the way for Condoleezza Rice and Hilary Clinton,” UC Davis student Ashley Leslie said before the show. Leslie said she admired that Albright “speaks clearly, without baseless rhetoric.”

“I respected her (during the Clinton administration) and like to see what her view is now on foreign affairs,” Davis resident Greg Gibbs said before the speech.

Albright was joined by moderator Larry Berman, UC Davis professor of political science, on the stage after a lengthy introduction to which Albright said, “Thank you. Not everyone always knows who I am.” She opened with a story about an experience in a Bosnian airport when a woman in line asked her why people were coming to Albright for autographs.

“I used to be the secretary of state,” Albright had told the woman, who replied, “Of Bosnia?”

She was able to bring a little humor to her presentation.

Albright became UN ambassador at the end of the Cold War, when she said she felt the world was to become an even more dangerous place.

“There were lots of border and ethnic disputes that were frozen, literally, by the Cold War,” Albright said. “Peacekeepers became peace-makers.”

She discussed the way the UN categorized countries by their level of belief in an international system. Some like Iraq, Somalia and North Korea were called “rogues” or “states of concern,” or, she added for a laugh, “basket cases.” It was for those countries and others that Albright wished to give access to justice where people had none.

After the Cold War, the United States had a rough time figuring out how and when it should use its military to help countries experiencing the horrors of genocide or war, she said. Albright discussed failed military action in Somalia as well as military inaction regarding Rwanda.

“Rwanda is my biggest regret,” Albright said. “We have lots of information now, but we did not have that information at the time. And you make decisions on what you know.”

She explained how after Americans were killed in 1993 during a peacekeeping operation in Somalia, it was “hard to get the system to do anything about (Rwanda).”

Albright moved the presentation forward to her time as secretary of state, where the topic went from terrorism, Afghanistan and Iraq to North Korea and NATO. She began by saying that her worst day as secretary of state was when the U.S. embassy was blown up in Kenya.

“After that,” Albright said, “we were dealing with terrorists on the agenda at all times.”

In 1998, the Clinton administration retaliated with missiles against al-Qaida terrorists in Afghanistan and Sudan, but Clinton was criticized as trying to distract the media from his personal issues. Albright said they told the Bush administration that terrorism would be its biggest concern.

Albright said she supported the military response in Afghanistan to catch Osama bin Laden, but she fought against the attention shift to Iraq.

“I did not believe that Iraq was a threat to the United States,” Albright said.

“I am glad Saddam Hussein is not there,” Albright said, “and I am proud of our military and the Iraqi people, but it is Iran that has benefited the most from the war in Iraq.”

She was clear about her opinion that the Bush administration was a failure, not only because of the misguided war in Iraq, but from halting relations with Cuba and ignoring the discussions held between the Clinton administration and North Korea regarding nuclear technology.

Albright was the first secretary of state to visit Kim Jong-il in North Korea, and the unusual request to visit Kim Jong-Il’s embalmed father before the meeting made for a humorous anecdote.

“We knew very little of Kim Jong-Il. Our intelligence said that he was crazy and a pervert,” Albright said. After the audience laughter quieted, she added, “He’s not crazy.”

She said they were making progress toward an agreement about North Korea’s nuclear power, which was “their cash crop” in an otherwise poor country, and doing well to make sure the country wasn’t developing nuclear weapons.

This was something Albright said the Bush administration “really screwed up on.” She said, “Bush didn’t listen to the talks the Clinton administration had with North Korea.”

It was found out in 2002 that North Korea had continued developing weapons.

NATO had its 60th anniversary last year, and Albright discussed the seminars held between the heads of state who helped develop new strategic concepts. She said the biggest concern for NATO is balancing the responsibilities of Article 5 (an attack against one is an attack against all) and tending to conflicts out of their area.

Albright said countries that join NATO must have “democratic function, a civilian military and no internal disputes.” She added that she hopes NATO’s expansion will lead to more political alliances.

During the question-and-answer portion of the presentation, Albright was asked about her thoughts on Palestine. She said she is “supportive of Israel,” but thinks Palestinians should have an independent state. “It has to end up being a win-win situation,” she said, “and it has to have the support of all Arab nations.”

One audience member asked Albright about the validity of a quotation from her that was printed on the side of a Starbucks cup that reads, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.” Albright confirmed the quotation was hers and said she still strongly believes in support systems and mentoring among women.

To another question about the advantages and disadvantages of being a woman in male-dominated politics, Albright said her gender wasn’t much of an issue.

“I did arrive in a very large plane that said United States of America on the side, after all,” she said. “I had more problems with the men in my own government.”

“The advantage is that women are good at putting themselves in others’ shoes, which is the main part of negotiating,” Albright said. “I know how to be charming, but also frank.”

When asked to give advice to political science students with aspirations to make the world a better place, Albright said, “It’s certainly a growth industry because there’s a lot to do.”

She said there are many approaches toward national security, including security of food, paying attention to climate change and the study of history. Albright said, “The most important thing to understand is the history of religion, the cause of many ethnic and border disputes.”

The presentation was concluded with Albright’s discussion of the growing gap between rich and poor countries, the “biggest danger” facing the world at this time. Albright said to work away at this problem, the focus should be creating labor rights, property rights, preventing food shortages and monitoring climate change.

“There are 4 billion people who have no access to justice,” Albright said. “This is a major issue.”

Ashley Leslie said, “She was entertaining. Very smart. And funny. In another life, she could’ve been a comedian. The questions from the audience were intelligent, too.”

Greg Gibbs missed much of the presentation on account of a faulty hearing aid, but nonetheless said he was “still impressed” with the event.