Woman of the World (page 3 of 3)

A New World

RD: The Bush Administration has expressed a doctrine of preemption to stop threats to international security. Are North Korea's long-range missile tests a case for preemptive strikes?
Secretary Rice: The United States is rallying a very important coalition of North Korea's neighbors to deal with this nuclear threat -- China and Japan and Russia and South Korea -- and that's the best way to handle this.

To be sure, the United States maintains -- through its alliance with the Republic of Korea, and also with others in the region, like Japan -- plenty of capability so the North Koreans are not confused about who is preeminent in terms of the security situation. Now, the President has been very clear. We don't have any desire to invade or attack North Korea. Why would we do that?

So North Korea also has no reason to have nuclear weapons. That said, I think the North Koreans recognize that the United States and its allies have plenty of capability to deal with any provocation.

RD: When Ronald Reagan went to Berlin and said, "Tear down this wall," many experts didn't believe it would happen. Is there anything today that would surprise people as much as the fall of communism?
Secretary Rice: People are going to be surprised at how different the Middle East is going to be in a few years. That would be my prediction.

There's going to be more democratic development, undoubtedly turbulent, rocky, because that 's how big changes are. You know, when I look back on the fall of communism, I realize that we were just harvesting the decisions that had been made in 1946 and '47. And I think, How did they keep their bearings? Because on any given day, the people who would walk into this [State Department] building would know that, in 1946, the Italian Communists won 48 percent of the vote and the French Communists 46 percent of the vote. In 1948, Czechoslovakia fell to a Communist coup. In 1948, Berlin was permanently divided by the Berlin Crisis. In 1949, the Soviet Union set off a nuclear weapon five years ahead of schedule and the Chinese Communists won.

If you had said to people at that time, that in 1989 and 1990, the Soviet Union is going to collapse, Eastern Europe is going to peacefully emerge as democratic, Germany will finally unify, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania are all going to be members of NATO, people would have said, "Are you out of your mind?"

Now we're at the beginning of another great transformation. I don't know if it will be 10 years or 20 or 30. But people will look back and say, "We' re really glad that they didn't take the easy way, that they didn't decide stability was enough and insisted on democratic development."

RD: You've made clear your lack of interest in running for President, but if there's a ground swell of public support for you to get into the race, could that change your mind?
Secretary Rice: I know what I'm suited to do in life. I've been fortunate that I've had jobs and responsibilities and opportunities that, when I was a kid growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, I would never have dreamed. But by this time in life, I do know what I want to do and what I don't. So I'll either go into sports management someplace or, more likely, go back to Stanford and teach.

From Reader's Digest - September 2006

 

• • Politicians
• • Amazing People
• Better America
• Government
• • Sept. 11

• Condoleezza Rice: The Advisor
• More than anyone in the White House, she has the President's ear. Now she talks to us.
• 
• George W. Bush On the Record
• President Bush discusses his plans for his second term.
• 
• McCain and Biden: How to Win in Iraq
• Two Senators give their plans for victory.
• 
• Bush: Standing His Ground
• President Bush is unyielding in his vision for America. To voters, that's either high praise or a huge problem.
• 

• Be Inspired
• 10 Celebrities Who Give Back
• 7 Amazing Stories, $700,000 to Charity
• Virginia Cervasio: Making It Matter
• PLUS:
• Quiz: What's Your Celebrity Cause IQ?