Speaking before a
standing room-only audience on April 14, Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright
delivered the 1998 Patricia Roberts Harris Public Affairs Lecture, outlining principles of
U.S. foreign policy, especially in Africa, and calling on the U.S. to pay its dues to the
United Nations. She was accorded standing ovations both before and after her speech in the
School of Business auditorium.
The Secretary was presented by President H. Patrick Swygert, who
welcomed the former college professor "back to the classroom". Before she became
Secretary, President Swygert said, "Professor Albright was an outstanding
teacher." Following the presentation, HU students peppered the visitor with a wide
variety of questions, ranging from her appeal to the Governor of Virginia to delay the
execution of a convicted Paraguayan to the U.S. decision to exclude Nigeria from President
Clinton's African itinerary.
Secretary Albright told the audience that nuclear and biological
weapons are the most serious threats in the world today. She called for their ultimate
elimination and for their removal from countries "which do not respect the rule of
law." She also cited illegal drugs as a danger to peace and stability and deplored
the plight of refugees in various parts of the world. Civil strife, ethnic conflict, and
the actions of ruthless dictators were to contribute to the growing refugee population,
particularly in Africa. The Clinton Administration, Secretary Albright said, promotes
democratization around the globe. Focusing on U.S. relations with the United States, the
Secretary asserted that it is a mistake for Americans to see that organization as
"alien". She continued, "We invented the UN; it was given birth right here
in this country; and we benefit from it." For all these reasons, Secretary Albright
said," and also because it is right, the U.S. should pay its dues to the UN".
Referring to the billion dollar-plus debt, the Secretary said, "the U.S. is the
principal organizer of the international system."
She added that the U.S. doesn't want to bear the responsibility
alone of maintaining world order but is interested in forming a union of countries to
share the burden. The Secretary's appearance at Howard was the third in the State
Department's "Secretary in the Classroom" lecture series.
