The Mighty and the Almighty

Author: Madeleine Albright

List Price: $25.95

Pages: 352

Publisher:  HarperCollins (May 2, 2006)

Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches

ISBN: 0060892579   

Albright brings considerable experience as a former diplomat¹, history professor, and child of Czech immigrants to an absorbing look at the intersection³ of world politics and world religion. With a sweeping⁴ view of U.S. historical involvement in the fight against communism and for human rights, as well as some of our more morally dubious⁵ pursuits, Albright critiques U.S. foreign policy and our notions of manifest destiny. From personal experiences, Albright notes the importance of religion in shaping world events, including the influence of Pope John Paul II on Poland and the world. As an admitted hybrid⁶ between realist and idealist, Albright suggests that politics and the values of faith can--and should--be joined in the interest of peace. But unfettered reliance on religious beliefs to guide politics is a formula for continued conflict. While President Bush portrays⁷ the U.S. anti-terrorism campaign as one aimed against evil, Albright notes that Osama bin² Laden⁸ also "portrays a clash between the good defender⁹ and the evil aggressor, but with roles reversed." Albright details the historic conflicts between Christianity and Islam, between Israelis and Muslims, and conflicts among Muslims, all based on interpretations¹¹ of religious texts. She believes the Christian¹⁰ Right has contributed to the complexity¹² of foreign diplomacy¹³ with encroachment¹⁴ into areas that had formerly¹⁵ been personal matters--from contraception to sexual orientation--that are now matters of international interest. A thoughtful and absorbing look at religion and world politics for readers of all religious and political persuasions¹⁶.

Book review

The former UN Ambassador and Secretary of State sees a place for personal faith among public officials. She believes personal faith has helped herself and many other people make very difficult decisions which impacted the world.

However, she doesn't use that personal faith as a public battering¹⁷ ram¹⁸ to attack 'others' and their perspectives. Having grown up under state oppression, she knows first-hand what totalitarian states where everybody must worship one way...etc really are like. Albright did not and still does not attempt to turn her own faith into a partisan¹⁹ and one-dimensional caricature for political benefit.

Her public faith is a civil belief in the state to advocate for the less fortunate. She understands democracy doesn't work when only talked about in the abstract. It has to be practiced.

Contrasting with the current administration, she sees the world as complex and multifaceted--there are no clear-cut good and evil sides in a religious conflict. Current American policy prolongs the bloodshed by not adopting a more nuanced analysis.


Author introduction

Madeleine Korbel Albright is America's first female secretary of state and the highest-ranking woman to serve in the U.S. government.

The U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations from 1993 to 1996, Albright was nominated by President Bill Clinton in December 1996 to become the nation's 64th secretary of state, succeeding Warren Christopher. Unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she was sworn into office on Jan. 23, 1997.

As secretary of state, Albright serves as the president's principal adviser²⁰ on foreign policy, conducts negotiations²¹ related to U.S. foreign affairs, and is a member of the National Security Council.

Albright has been the president of the Center for National Policy, a nonprofit research organization that promotes the study and discussion of domestic and international issues, and a research professor of international affairs and the director of the Women in Foreign Service Program at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.

From 1981 to 1982, Albright was a senior fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian Institution. She has also served as a senior fellow in Soviet²² and Eastern European affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Albright was a staff member on the National Security Council and at the White House, where she was responsible for foreign policy legislation, from 1978 to 1981. She served as chief legislative²³ assistant to Senator Edmund S. Muskie from 1976 to 1978.

Awarded a bachelor's degree with honors in political science from Wellesley College, she attended the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, received a certificate from Columbia University's Russian Institute, and earned her master's and doctorate²⁴ at Columbia's department of public law and government.

Born in Prague, Albright is fluent in French and Czech, with good speaking and reading abilities in Russian and Polish. Selected writings include "Poland: The Role of the Press in Political Change," "The Role of the Press in Political Change: Czechoslovakia, 1968," and "The Soviet Diplomatic Service: Profile of an Elite²⁵."

She has three daughters.