At UCSD, Albright sounds an alarm
Ex-secretary of State tells graduates they face a crucial choice.
SAN DIEGO — UC San Diego’s commencement ceremony took on a political tone Saturday as former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright derided the forces of nationalism in a keynote address that clearly referred to policies of the Trump administration.
Albright, 82, also expressed concern about the spread of hate in the world, pointing to the deadly shooting at a synagogue in Poway in April as an example.
She was sporadically interrupted by applause as she spoke at Rimac Field.
Albright began with a bit of humor, identifying herself as someone who had been born “halfway between the invention of the iPad and the discovery of fire.”
That drew smiles from students.
Albright addressed their anxieties about graduating by repeating a quote that many attribute to the late author Theodor Geisel, otherwise known as Dr. Seuss, the namesake of the university’s Geisel Library: “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it has happened.”
Although Geisel often gets the credit, there’s no evidence that he said those words. Albright’s speech soon turned serious.
“Thirty years ago this November, the Berlin Wall fell down,” said Albright, who immigrated to the U.S. from Czechoslovakia in 1948. “America celebrated. We also learned that the world might become more, rather than less, dangerous as a result. In the years that followed, that fear [has been] validated by ethnic strife, increased destructiveness of international terror, the spread of advanced weapons technology, and the emergence of leaders whose slogans echo the silent song of fascism.
“Still, there are many in Washington and around the country who think of our country as an island. They believe we are unaffected by events across the far side of the sea and that we can build walls to keep problems at bay. They refuse to accept that America’s interests are linked to the security and prosperity of neighbors, allies and friends.”
Albright, the first woman to serve as secretary of State, added: “We have long passed the time in our history when you could count on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to guarantee our security — that we could protect our interests by maintaining a few key relationships, principally Europe, and that we could safely take a reactive approach to most events in most places most of the time.
“While there are some communities across the country who may be able to avoid these realities, San Diego is not one of them. You are home to some of the largest military installations in the country, with thousands of sailors and Marines stationed here, many of them preparing to deploy on missions across the Pacific.
“Your future depends on the expansion of commerce in fast-rising regions of the world such as Asia. And yet that future is threatened by the prospect of economic and military conflict, whether in the South China Sea or the Strait of Hormuz.”
Albright, who served as secretary of State and as ambassador to the United Nations during the Clinton administration, also told students, “Your generation faces a moment of choice. Will we treat foreign policy as a dog-eat-dog struggle in which no one wins except at another’s cost? Or will we carry the banner for international cooperation? Will we honor the principles upon which our freedom is based?”