The United States must not reduce its foreign policy to a struggle between good and evil, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said last night during a lecture on religion and international affairs in Gaston Hall. Albright, who served under former President Bill Clinton (SFS ’68) and is now the Mortara Distinguished Professor of Diplomacy in the School of Foreign Service, began the lecture by noting that the idea of evil has played an increasingly prominent role in American foreign policy. “Evil has become the hottest of topics,” she said. “President Bush has talked about the axis of evil. Just recently, he told reporters that our war against terrorism is a fight between good and evil,” she said. Albright said the United States should exercise caution in using terms like good and evil. “We need to have a little less pride and a little more hesitation when judging others,” she said. “Armageddon is not a foreign policy.” During a question-and-answer session following the lecture, Albright faulted American policy in Iraq. “I believe the war in Iraq will go down in history as the worst foreign policy disaster in American history, more so than Vietnam,” she said. Her opinion on Iraq, in addition to other reflections on foreign policy and religion, was included in Albright’s recent book, “The Mighty and Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs,” which came out in May. “When you write a book, you usually hope what you predict is right,” she said. “I actually hope that I’m wrong.” Upset with the turn in foreign policy pursued by the Bush administration, Albright offered an alternative focus for the United States in world affairs, sayingthat terrorism is not the world’s only evil. “Extreme poverty is a jail in which all too many humans are sentenced to life, “she said. “I offer an axis of evil made up of poverty, ignorance and disease.” The United States, she said, ranks far too low when it comes to offering aid to foreign nations in crisis. She said that world poverty is an issue of U.S. national security. She argued that U.S. wealth cannot be sustained when its neighbors cannot provide basic human needs. Tying this phenomenon to religion, Albright said that religious and other divisions that groups form only worsen poverty. “Above all, we must accept that none of us has full possession of the truth, especially when it comes to religion,” she said. Religion holds the potential to create unlikely political unions between liberals and conservatives in joint humanitarian efforts, she said. She cited one such effort in the push to stop the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. When speaking on the importance of an international response to genocide, Albright spoke proudly of her experience confronting the ethnic conflicts in Kosovo. “Of all that we accomplished during my time in office, I’m proudest of what we did in Kosovo because we stopped the killing, and people are back in Kosovo living a free life,” she said. Bisera Turkovic, the Bosnian ambassador to the United States, who attended the speech, thanked Albright for her work in the region at the end of the event, and stressed the need for interfaith cooperation. In response, Albright said that the United States must take steps toward the promotion of interfaith cooperation. “Our diplomats need to be trained, not just in foreign languages and history, but also in the religions of the regions where they are going,” she said. The United States must not reduce its foreign policy to a struggle between good and evil, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said last night during a lecture on religion and international affairs in Gaston Hall. Albright, who served under former President Bill Clinton (SFS ’68) and is now the Mortara Distinguished Professor of Diplomacy in the School of Foreign Service, began the lecture by noting that the idea of evil has played an increasingly prominent role in American foreign policy. “Evil has become the hottest of topics,” she said. “President Bush has talked about the axis of evil. Just recently, he told reporters that our war against terrorism is a fight between good and evil,” she said. Albright said the United States should exercise caution in using terms like good and evil. “We need to have a little less pride and a little more hesitation when judging others,” she said. “Armageddon is not a foreign policy.” During a question-and-answer session following the lecture, Albright faulted American policy in Iraq. “I believe the war in Iraq will go down in history as the worst foreign policy disaster in American history, more so than Vietnam,” she said. Her opinion on Iraq, in addition to other reflections on foreign policy and religion, was included in Albright’s recent book, “The Mighty and Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs,” which came out in May. “When you write a book, you usually hope what you predict is right,” she said. “I actually hope that I’m wrong.” Upset with the turn in foreign policy pursued by the Bush administration, Albright offered an alternative focus for the United States in world affairs, sayingthat terrorism is not the world’s only evil. “Extreme poverty is a jail in which all too many humans are sentenced to life, “she said. “I offer an axis of evil made up of poverty, ignorance and disease.” The United States, she said, ranks far too low when it comes to offering aid to foreign nations in crisis. She said that world poverty is an issue of U.S. national security. She argued that U.S. wealth cannot be sustained when its neighbors cannot provide basic human needs. Tying this phenomenon to religion, Albright said that religious and other divisions that groups form only worsen poverty. “Above all, we must accept that none of us has full possession of the truth, especially when it comes to religion,” she said. Religion holds the potential to create unlikely political unions between liberals and conservatives in joint humanitarian efforts, she said. She cited one such effort in the push to stop the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. When speaking on the importance of an international response to genocide, Albright spoke proudly of her experience confronting the ethnic conflicts in Kosovo. “Of all that we accomplished during my time in office, I’m proudest of what we did in Kosovo because we stopped the killing, and people are back in Kosovo living a free life,” she said. Bisera Turkovic, the Bosnian ambassador to the United States, who attended the speech, thanked Albright for her work in the region at the end of the event, and stressed the need for interfaith cooperation. In response, Albright said that the United States must take steps toward the promotion of interfaith cooperation. “Our diplomats need to be trained, not just in foreign languages and history, but also in the religions of the regions where they are going,” she said. The United States must not reduce its foreign policy to a struggle between good and evil, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said last night during a lecture on religion and international affairs in Gaston Hall. Albright, who served under former President Bill Clinton (SFS ’68) and is now the Mortara Distinguished Professor of Diplomacy in the School of Foreign Service, began the lecture by noting that the idea of evil has played an increasingly prominent role in American foreign policy. “Evil has become the hottest of topics,” she said. “President Bush has talked about the axis of evil. Just recently, he told reporters that our war against terrorism is a fight between good and evil,” she said. Albright said the United States should exercise caution in using terms like good and evil. “We need to have a little less pride and a little more hesitation when judging others,” she said. “Armageddon is not a foreign policy.” During a question-and-answer session following the lecture, Albright faulted American policy in Iraq. “I believe the war in Iraq will go down in history as the worst foreign policy disaster in American history, more so than Vietnam,” she said. Her opinion on Iraq, in addition to other reflections on foreign policy and religion, was included in Albright’s recent book, “The Mighty and Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs,” which came out in May. “When you write a book, you usually hope what you predict is right,” she said. “I actually hope that I’m wrong.” Upset with the turn in foreign policy pursued by the Bush administration, Albright offered an alternative focus for the United States in world affairs, sayingthat terrorism is not the world’s only evil. “Extreme poverty is a jail in which all too many humans are sentenced to life, “she said. “I offer an axis of evil made up of poverty, ignorance and disease.” The United States, she said, ranks far too low when it comes to offering aid to foreign nations in crisis. She said that world poverty is an issue of U.S. national security. She argued that U.S. wealth cannot be sustained when its neighbors cannot provide basic human needs. Tying this phenomenon to religion, Albright said that religious and other divisions that groups form only worsen poverty. “Above all, we must accept that none of us has full possession of the truth, especially when it comes to religion,” she said. Religion holds the potential to create unlikely political unions between liberals and conservatives in joint humanitarian efforts, she said. She cited one such effort in the push to stop the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. When speaking on the importance of an international response to genocide, Albright spoke proudly of her experience confronting the ethnic conflicts in Kosovo. “Of all that we accomplished during my time in office, I’m proudest of what we did in Kosovo because we stopped the killing, and people are back in Kosovo living a free life,” she said. Bisera Turkovic, the Bosnian ambassador to the United States, who attended the speech, thanked Albright for her work in the region at the end of the event, and stressed the need for interfaith cooperation. In response, Albright said that the United States must take steps toward the promotion of interfaith cooperation. “Our diplomats need to be trained, not just in foreign languages and history, but also in the religions of the regions where they are going,” she said.