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Condoleezza Rice

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Political People

   CAPTION: Condoleezza Rice

                    66th United States Secretary of State
                                  In office
   January 26, 2005 – present
     Preceded by   Colin Powell
    Succeeded by   incumbent
        Born       November 14, 1954
                   Birmingham, Alabama
   Political party Republican
     Profession    Professor, University Administrator, Diplomat, Politician
      Religion     Presbyterian

   Condoleezza Rice (born November 14, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama) is the
   66th United States Secretary of State, and the second in the
   administration of President George W. Bush to hold the office. She
   succeeded Colin Powell on January 26, 2005, after his resignation. Rice
   is the first African American woman, second African American (after
   Powell), and second woman (after Madeleine Albright) to serve as
   Secretary of State.

   Condoleezza Rice was Bush's National Security Advisor during his first
   term (2001–2005). Before joining the Bush administration, she was a
   Professor of political science at Stanford University where she served
   as Provost from 1993 to 1999.

   During the administration of George H. W. Bush, Rice also served as the
   Soviet and East European Affairs Advisor during the dissolution of the
   Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany.

   Rice's role as advisor to the President and chief diplomat for the
   United States during a period of intense criticism of America's War on
   Terror has made her a controversial figure, although she currently has
   the highest public approval and favorability ratings of any
   administration official.

   In 2004 and 2005, she was ranked as the most powerful woman in the
   world by Forbes magazine and number two in 2006. She is also one of
   only two African Americans to have been repeatedly ranked among the
   world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine.

Early life and education

   Rice was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up in the neighbourhood
   of Titusville. She is the only child of Presbyterian minister Reverend
   John Wesley Rice, Jr., and his wife, the former Angelena Ray. Reverend
   Rice was a guidance counselor at Ullman High School and minister of
   Westminster Presbyterian Church, which had been founded by his father.
   Angelena was a science, music and oratory teacher at Ullman.

   Condoleezza (whose name is derived from the Italian musical expression,
   Con dolcezza, which, in musical notation means "with sweetness")
   experienced firsthand the injustices of Birmingham's discriminatory
   laws and attitudes. She was instructed to walk proudly in public and to
   use the facilities at home rather than subject herself to the indignity
   of "colored" facilities in town. As Rice recalls of her parents and
   their peers, "they refused to allow the limits and injustices of their
   time to limit our horizons.”

   However, Rice recalls various times in which she suffered
   discrimination and persecution on account of her skin colour, which
   include being relegated to a storage room at a department store instead
   of a regular dressing room, being barred from going to the circus or
   the local amusement park, being denied hotel rooms, and even being
   given bad food at restaurants. Also, while Condoleezza was mostly kept
   by her parents from areas where she might face discrimination, she was
   very aware of the civil rights struggle and the problems of Jim Crow
   Birmingham. Says neighbour Juliemma Smith, "[Condi] used to call me and
   say things like, 'Did you see what Bull Connor did today?' She was just
   a little girl and she did that all the time. I would have to read the
   newspaper thoroughly because I wouldn’t know what she was going to talk
   about." Rice herself said of the segregation era: "Those terrible
   events burned into my consciousness. I missed many days at my
   segregated school because of the frequent bomb threats."

   During the violent days of the Civil Rights Movement, Reverend Rice
   armed himself and kept guard over the house while Condoleezza practiced
   the piano inside. According to J.L. Chestnut, Reverend Rice called
   local civil rights leader Fred Shuttlesworth and his followers'
   activism as "misguided". Also, Reverend Rice instilled in his daughter
   and students that black people would have to prove themselves worthy of
   advancement, and would simply have to be "twice as good" to overcome
   injustices built into the system. While the Rices supported the goals
   of the civil rights movement, they did not agree with some of the
   tactics that activists had utilized, which included putting children in
   harm's way.

   Rice was eight when her schoolmate Denise McNair was killed in the
   bombing of the primarily African American Sixteenth Street Baptist
   Church by white supremacists on September 15, 1963. Rice has commented
   upon that moment in her life:

     I remember the bombing of that Sunday School at 16th Street Baptist
     Church in Birmingham in 1963. I did not see it happen, but I heard
     it happen, and I felt it happen, just a few blocks away at my
     father’s church. It is a sound that I will never forget, that will
     forever reverberate in my ears. That bomb took the lives of four
     young girls, including my friend and playmate, Denise McNair. The
     crime was calculated to suck the hope out of young lives, bury their
     aspirations. But those fears were not propelled forward, those
     terrorists failed.

     — Condoleezza Rice, Commencement 2004, Vanderbilt University, May
     13, 2004

   Rice states that growing up during racial segregation taught her
   determination against adversity, and the need to be "twice as good" as
   non-minorities. Segregation also hardened her stance on the right to
   bear arms; Rice has said in interviews that if gun registration had
   been mandatory, her father's weapons would have been confiscated,
   leaving them defenseless against Ku Klux Klan nightriders.

   Rice started learning French, music, figure skating and ballet at age
   three. At age 15, she began classes with the goal of becoming a concert
   pianist. Her plans changed when she realized that she did not play well
   enough to support herself through music alone. She said that her
   playing was "pretty good but not great", and that she did not have
   enough time to devote to practice. While Rice is not a professional
   pianist, she still practices often and plays with a chamber music
   group.

   Rice made use of her pianist training to accompany cellist Yo-Yo Ma for
   Brahms's Violin Sonata in D Minor at Constitution Hall in April 2002
   for the National Medal of Arts Awards. ( Picture of Rice and Yo-Yo Ma).
   Rice even performed Brahms's Sonata in D Minor, 2nd Movement, with
   famed Malaysian violinist Mustafa Fuzer Nawi (conductor of the National
   Symphony Orchestra) at the Gala Dinner of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting
   on July 27, 2006. She has also played Glenn Gould's piano while meeting
   with Michaëlle Jean, the Governor General of Canada, at Rideau Hall on
   October 25, 2005, and she gave a sampling of her musical talent for
   Katie Couric on the 60 Minutes season premiere in 2006.

   In 1967, the family moved to Denver in Colorado when her father
   accepted an administrative position at the University of Denver. She
   attended St. Mary's Academy, a private all-girls Catholic high school
   in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado.

   After studying piano at the Aspen Music Festival and School, Rice
   enrolled at the University of Denver, where her father both served as
   an assistant dean and taught a class called "The Black Experience in
   America". Dean John Rice was extremely opposed to institutional racism
   and government oppression and was a vocal protester of the Vietnam war.

   Rice attended a course on international politics taught by Josef
   Korbel, the father of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
   This experience sparked her interest in the Soviet Union and
   international relations and made her call Korbel "one of the most
   central figures in my life."

   Rice graduated from St. Mary's Academy in 1970. In 1974, at age 19,
   Rice earned her B.A. in political science and Phi Beta Kappa from the
   University of Denver. In 1975, she obtained her Master's Degree in
   political science from the University of Notre Dame. She first worked
   in the State Department in 1977, during the Carter administration, as
   an intern in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In 1981,
   at the age of 26, she received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the
   Graduate School of International Studies at Denver. In addition to
   English, she speaks fluent Russian, and, with varying degrees of
   fluency, German, French, and Spanish.

   Rice was a Democrat until 1982 when she changed her political
   affiliation to Republican after growing averse to former President
   Carter's foreign policy. She also cited influence from her father, John
   Wesley, in this decision, who himself switched from Democrat to
   Republican after being denied voting registration by the Democratic
   Party of Alabama.

   Rice is unmarried, but dated professional football player Rick Upchurch
   while attending the University of Denver. In September 2006, The New
   York Times reported on gossip about her involvement with Canadian
   Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter MacKay.

Academic career

   Condoleezza Rice during a 2005 interview on ITV in London
   Enlarge
   Condoleezza Rice during a 2005 interview on ITV in London

   Rice was hired for her first academic position by Stanford University
   as an Assistant Professor in Political Science (1981–1987). She was
   granted tenure and promoted, first to Associate Professor (1987–1993),
   and then (she was off-campus from 1989–1991) to Provost, the chief
   budget and academic officer of the university (1993–2000), and full
   Professor (1993–present). In addition to being the first female and
   first minority to hold the position of Provost at Stanford, Rice was
   the youngest Provost in Stanford's history. She was also named a Senior
   Fellow of the Institute for International Studies, and a Senior Fellow
   (by courtesy) of the Hoover Institution. She was a specialist on the
   former Soviet Union and gave lectures on the subject for the
   Berkeley-Stanford joint program led by UC Berkeley Professor George
   Breslauer in the mid-1980s. She also was an avid reader of Tolstoy and
   Dostoevsky, and reportedly once told a friend she leaned toward the
   latter in her world view. She was said to be quietly cerebral, friendly
   but decorous, and popular among students. Friends and co-workers often
   saw her exercising in the gym or serving breakfast to undergraduates at
   Midnight Breakfast, a Stanford tradition during final exams.

   As Stanford's Provost, Dr. Rice was responsible for managing the
   university's multi-billion dollar budget. The school at that time was
   running a deficit of $20 million. When Rice took office, she promised
   that the budget deficit would be balanced within "two years". Says Coit
   Blacker, Stanford's deputy director of the Institute for International
   Studies, "There was a sort of conventional wisdom that said it couldn't
   be done ... that [the deficit] was structural, that we just had to live
   with it." Two years later, Rice convened a meeting to announce that not
   only had the deficit been balanced, but the university was holding a
   record surplus of over $14.5 million.

   Provost Rice was also responsible for relations with campus
   organizations, and she managed to maintain friendly contact with
   various student associations, such as the Venezuelan Student
   Organization. After departing to enter government service, she returned
   to Stanford in June 2002 to deliver the commencement address.

   Dr. Rice is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and
   has been awarded honorary doctorates from Morehouse College in 1991,
   the University of Alabama in 1994, the University of Notre Dame in
   1995, the Mississippi College School of Law in 2003, the University of
   Louisville, Michigan State University in 2004, and Boston College Law
   School in 2006.

   She has written or collaborated on several books, including Germany
   Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft (1995), The
   Gorbachev Era (1986), and The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak Army,
   1948-1983: Uncertain Allegiance (1984).

Business career

   Rice has served on the board of directors for the Carnegie Corporation,
   the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Charles Schwab
   Corporation, the Chevron Corporation, Hewlett Packard, the Rand
   Corporation, the Transamerica Corporation, the William and Flora
   Hewlett Foundation, and KQED, public broadcasting for San Francisco.

   She was also on the Board of Trustees of the University of Notre Dame,
   the International Advisory Council of J.P. Morgan, and the San
   Francisco Symphony Board of Governors. She also headed Chevron's
   committee on public policy until she resigned on January 15, 2001, to
   become National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush. Chevron
   honored Rice by naming an oil tanker Condoleezza Rice after her, but
   controversy led to its being renamed Altair Voyager.

   Rice has also been active in community affairs. She was a founding
   board member of the Centre for a New Generation, an educational support
   fund for schools in East Palo Alto, California and East Menlo Park,
   California, and was Vice President of the Boys and Girls Clubs of
   America of the San Francisco Bay Area.

   In addition, her past board service has encompassed such organizations
   as the National Council for Soviet and East European Studies, the
   Stanford Mid-Peninsula Urban Coalition, and the Woodrow Wilson Centre.

Political career

Early phase

   In 1986, while an international affairs fellow of the Council on
   Foreign Relations, Rice served as Special Assistant to the Director of
   the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

   From 1989 through March 1991 (the period of the fall of Berlin Wall and
   the final days of the Soviet Union), she served in President George
   H.W. Bush's administration as Director, and then Senior Director, of
   Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council, and
   a Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. In
   this position, Rice helped develop Bush's and Secretary of State James
   Baker's policies in favour of German reunification. She impressed Bush,
   who later introduced her to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as the one
   who "tells me everything I know about the Soviet Union."

   In 1989 she served as director for Soviet and East European Affairs at
   the National Security Council and reported directly to National
   Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft. In 1990 she became George H. W.
   Bush's principal advisor on the Soviet Union and was named a special
   assistant to the president for national security affairs. At that time
   she was the highest ranking black woman in the administration.

   In 1991, Rice returned to her teaching position at Stanford, although
   she continued to serve as a consultant on the former Soviet Bloc for
   numerous clients in both the public and private sectors. Late that
   year, California Governor Pete Wilson appointed her to a bipartisan
   committee that had been formed to draw new state legislative and
   congressional districts in the state.

   In 1997, she sat on the Federal Advisory Committee on Gender-Integrated
   Training in the Military.

   During George W. Bush's 2000 U.S. Presidential election campaign, Rice
   took a one-year leave of absence from Stanford University to help work
   as his foreign policy advisor. The group of advisors she led called
   itself The Vulcans in honour of the monumental Vulcan statue, which
   sits on a hill overlooking her home town of Birmingham, Alabama. Rice
   would later go on to give a noteworthy speech at the 2000 Republican
   National Convention.

National Security Advisor (2001–2005)

   Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Secretary of Defense Donald
   Rumsfeld listen to President George W. Bush speak about the Middle East
   on June 24, 2002
   Enlarge
   Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Secretary of Defense Donald
   Rumsfeld listen to President George W. Bush speak about the Middle East
   on June 24, 2002

   On December 17, 2000, Rice was picked to serve as National Security
   Advisor and stepped down from her position at Stanford. She was the
   first woman to occupy the post. In 2001, Rice was staff or board member
   of The Scowcroft Group according to a report entitled The 2001 Morse
   Target: Washington's Movers and Shakers on Japan.

   During the summer of 2001, Rice met with CIA Director George Tenet on
   an almost daily basis to discuss the possibilities and prevention of
   terrorist attacks on American targets. Notably, on July 10, 2001, Rice
   met with Tenet in what he referred to as an "emergency meeting" held at
   the White House at Tenet's request to brief Rice and the NSC staff
   about the potential threat of an al Qaeda attack. Rice responded by
   asking Tenet to give a presentation on the matter to Secretary Rumsfeld
   and (now-former) Attorney General John Ashcroft.

   When asked about the meeting in 2006, Rice asserted she did not recall
   the specific meeting, commenting that she had met repeatedly with Tenet
   that summer about terrorist threats. Moreover, she stated that it was
   "incomprehensible” to her that she ignored terrorist threats two months
   before the September 11 attacks.

   Rice became one of the most outspoken supporters of the 2003 invasion
   of Iraq. After Iraq delivered its declaration of weapons of mass
   destruction to the United Nations on December 8, 2002, it was Rice who
   wrote an editorial for The New York Times entitled Why We Know Iraq Is
   Lying.

   In March 2004, Rice initially declined to publicly testify under oath
   before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United
   States (the 9/11 Commission). The White House claimed executive
   privilege under constitutional separation of powers and cited past
   tradition in refusing requests for her public testimony. Under
   pressure, Bush agreed to allow her to publicly testify so long as it
   did not create a precedent of Presidential staff being required to
   appear before United States Congress when so requested. In the end, her
   appearance before the commission on April 8, 2004, was deemed
   acceptable in part because she was not actually appearing before
   Congress. She thus became the first sitting National Security Advisor
   to testify on matters of policy.

   Leading up to the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, Rice became the
   first National Security Advisor to campaign for an incumbent president.
   She used this occasion to express her belief that Saddam Hussein's
   government in Iraq contributed to circumstances that produced terrorism
   like the 9/11 attacks on America. At a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
   campaign rally she said: "While Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with
   the actual attacks on America, Saddam Hussein's Iraq was a part of the
   Middle East that was festering and unstable, [and] was part of the
   circumstances that created the problem on September 11."

   In 2003, Rice was also drawn into the debate over the affirmative
   action admissions policy at the University of Michigan. On January 18,
   2003, the Washington Post reported that she was involved in crafting
   Bush's position on race-based preferences. Rice has stated that she
   believes that "while race-neutral means are preferable", race can be
   taken into account as "one factor among others" in university
   admissions policies.

   In a January 10, 2003 interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Rice was
   generally cautious about characterizing possible Iraqi WMD programs.
   However, she did say something that was, according to Blitzer,
   "ominous", and made headlines around the world: "The problem here is
   that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can
   acquire nuclear weapons. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a
   mushroom cloud." Critics suggested that while eloquent, it was a
   questionable use of language designed to help focus support for the
   administration's desires to intervene in Iraq and enable regime change.
   Given the subsequent lack of evidence for substantial Iraqi WMD
   capability, this comment has gained increasing attention, not for being
   false, but for being what some say is needlessly ominous.

Secretary of State (2005–present)

   Condoleezza Rice speaks after being nominated to be Secretary of State
   by President George W. Bush (background)
   Enlarge
   Condoleezza Rice speaks after being nominated to be Secretary of State
   by President George W. Bush (background)

   On November 16, 2004, Bush nominated Rice to be Secretary of State,
   replacing Powell, whose resignation was made public the day before.
   Bush named Rice's deputy, Stephen Hadley, to replace her as National
   Security Advisor. On January 7, 2005, Bush nominated U.S. Trade
   Representative Robert B. Zoellick to be Rice's deputy at the Department
   of State. On January 19, 2005, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign
   Relations voted by 16–2 margin to approve the forwarding of Rice's
   nomination to the full Senate for approval, with Democrats John Kerry
   and Barbara Boxer voting against Rice. During her hearing, Boxer
   questioned Rice on issues about her personal life, which some observers
   deemed irrelevant. On January 26, 2005, the Senate confirmed her
   nomination by a vote of 85–13. The negative votes, the most cast
   against any nomination for Secretary of State since 1825, came from
   Senators who, according to Boxer, wanted "to hold Dr. Rice and the Bush
   administration accountable for their failures in Iraq and in the war on
   terrorism." All negative votes came from either Democratic or
   independent senators. Their reasoning was that Rice had acted
   irresponsibly in equating Hussein's regime with Islamist terrorism and
   some could not accept her previous record.
   Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice signs official papers after
   receiving the oath of office during her ceremonial swearing in at the
   Department of State. Watching on are, from left, Laura Bush, Justice
   Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President George W. Bush and an unidentified
   family member.
   Enlarge
   Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice signs official papers after
   receiving the oath of office during her ceremonial swearing in at the
   Department of State. Watching on are, from left, Laura Bush, Justice
   Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President George W. Bush and an unidentified
   family member.

   On October 30, 2005, Rice attended a memorial service in Montgomery,
   Alabama, in Rice's home state, for Rosa Parks, an inspiration for the
   American Civil Rights Movement. Rice stated, that she and others who
   grew up in Alabama during the height of Parks' activism might not have
   realized her impact on their lives at the time, "but I can honestly say
   that without Mrs. Parks, I probably would not be standing here today as
   secretary of state."

   On September 24, 2006, Rice was interviewed on the 60 Minutes season
   premiere by Katie Couric. Rice discussed her experiences growing up as
   a child in Birmingham and her work as National Security Advisor and
   Secretary of State for the Bush administration.

Major initiatives

   Since Rice took office as Secretary of State in January 2005, she has
   undertaken several major initiatives to reform and restructure the
   department, as well as U.S. diplomacy as a whole. Arguably her most
   substantial initiative has been dubbed "Transformational Diplomacy", a
   goal which Rice describes as "work[ing] with our many partners around
   the world ... [and] build[ing] and sustain[ing] democratic,
   well-governed states that will respond to the needs of their people and
   conduct themselves responsibly in the international system."
   Rice unveils her plan for restructuring American foreign policy, which
   she calls "Transformational Diplomacy", during a January 18, 2006
   speech at Georgetown University
   Enlarge
   Rice unveils her plan for restructuring American foreign policy, which
   she calls "Transformational Diplomacy", during a January 18, 2006
   speech at Georgetown University

   Rice's Transformational Diplomacy involves approximately five core
   elements:
     * Relocating American diplomats to the places in the world where they
       are needed most.
     * Requiring diplomats to serve some time in "hardship locations",
       gain expertise in at least two regions, and become fluent in at
       least two foreign languages.
     * Focusing on regional solutions to problems like terrorism, drug
       trafficking, and diseases.
     * Working with other countries on a bilateral basis to help them
       build a stronger infrastructure, and decreasing foreign nations'
       dependence on American hand-outs and assistance.
     * The creation of a high-level position, director of foreign
       assistance, to oversee U.S. foreign aid, thus de-fragmenting U.S.
       foreign assistance.

   During Rice's introduction of her plan for Transformational Diplomacy,
   which she delivered at Georgetown University on January 18, 2006, she
   highlighted the issue of disproportionate numbers of U.S. foreign
   workers in relation to the population of the country they are serving
   in. As an example, Rice recounted, "We have nearly the same number of
   State Department personnel in Germany, a country of 82 million people
   that we have in India, a country of one billion people." She said that
   many of the diplomats in comfortable locations, like Europe, would be
   relocated to countries like China, India, Brazil, Egypt, Nigeria,
   Indonesia, South Africa, and Lebanon, which she said had become the
   "new front lines of our diplomacy."

   Rice also stated that all American diplomats would hereby be required
   to serve in "hardship posts" and "challenging jobs", citing "critical
   countries like Iraq and Afghanistan and Sudan and Angola." She said
   that this move was needed to help "maintain security, fight poverty,
   and make democratic reforms" in these countries. Rice asserted that
   this would help improve foreign nations' legal, economic, healthcare,
   and educational systems. As for the new foreign language requirements,
   Rice suggested Chinese, Arabic, and Urdu as several needed languages.

   Another aspect of Transformational Diplomacy, as outlined in Rice's
   speech, is the emphasis on finding regional solutions to various
   problems, rather than relying on one single official solution to a
   problem in every circumstance. Rice also pressed for an emphasis on
   finding transnational solutions as well, stating that "in the 21st
   century, geographic regions are growing ever more integrated
   economically, politically and culturally. This creates new
   opportunities but it also presents new challenges, especially from
   transnational threats like terrorism and weapons proliferation and drug
   smuggling and trafficking in persons and disease."

   Another aspect of the emphasis on regional solutions is the
   implementation of small, agile, "rapid-response" teams to tackle
   problems like disease, instead of the traditional approach of calling
   on experts in an embassy. Rice explained that this means moving
   diplomats out of the "back rooms of foreign ministries" and putting
   more effort into "localizing" the State Department's diplomatic posture
   in foreign nations. The Secretary emphasized the need for diplomats to
   move into the largely unreached "bustling new population centers" and
   to spread out "more widely across countries" in order to become more
   familiar with local issues and people.

   Finally, Rice announced a major restructuring of U.S. foreign
   assistance, including nominating Randall L. Tobias, an AIDS relief
   expert, as the new administrator of USAID (U.S. Agency for
   International Development). Tobias, who will be elevated to a position
   equivalent of a deputy secretary of state, has the job of focusing the
   United States' foreign assistance efforts and de-fragmenting the many
   disparate aid offices that exist. State Department officials described
   the move as necessary to "ensure more effective and focused spending
   overseas."

   Rice says these initiatives are necessary because of the highly
   "extraordinary time" in which Americans live. She compares the moves to
   the historic initiatives taken after World War II, which she claims
   helped stabilize Europe as it is known today. Rice states that her
   Transformational Diplomacy is not merely about "influencing" or
   "reporting on" governments, but "changing people's lives" through
   tackling the issues like AIDS, the education of women, and the defeat
   of violent extremism.

Regional issues

Cuba

   Rice convenes a meeting of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba
   in December 2005
   Enlarge
   Rice convenes a meeting of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba
   in December 2005

   Rice has been a vocal supporter of political change in Cuba. She has
   chaired the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba (formed in 2003),
   which, according to Rice, was created "to explore ways the U.S. can
   help hasten and ease a democratic transition in Cuba." Rice says that
   the message the Commission wishes to send is that "after 46 years of
   cruel dictatorship, now is the time for change in Cuba." The Commission
   seeks to integrate the administration's Cuba policies with all the
   agencies of the federal government.

   Fidel Castro, in 2005, called the Commission a "group of shit-eaters
   who do not deserve the world's respect", and referred to Rice as the
   "mad woman who talks of transition". Castro has insisted that, in spite
   of the formation of the Commission, he will press his country ever
   onward "to socialism [and] to communism" and that it is "ridiculous for
   the U.S. to threaten Cuba now".

   In July 2006, Rice and Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez released
   a joint statement reasserting the goals of the Commission for
   Assistance to a Free Cuba, stating that the Commission will keep a
   "promise the United States has made to the Cuban people: We will stand
   with you through the process of transformation to a democratic future
   ... The Compact with the People of Cuba is especially important because
   it is our message of hope and solidarity to Cubans on the island."
   Ricardo Alarcón, president of the National Assembly of Cuba, indicated
   that he saw this new report as an illegal and aggressive “plan for the
   annexation of Cuba”. Secretary General of the OAS, Jose Miguel Insulza
   (who was backed by Castro in his bid for Secretary General), also
   commented on the report stating, "There is no transition and it's not
   your country."

   Rice has stated: "Today, when democratic members of the OAS meet, there
   is only one open seat at the table, and that seat will someday belong
   to a free and democratic Cuba. The 34 democracies of our hemisphere
   have signed the Inter-American Democratic Charter and together we, the
   states of the region, must hold states accountable to that Charter. And
   most importantly, we must insist that leaders who are elected
   democratically have a responsibility to govern democratically."

Iran

   Rice joins the EU in condemning Iran's defiance of international
   protocol and demands Tehran halt its uranium enrichment in January 2006
   Enlarge
   Rice joins the EU in condemning Iran's defiance of international
   protocol and demands Tehran halt its uranium enrichment in January 2006

   Though the U.S. State Department does not hold formal diplomatic
   relations with Iran, Secretary Rice's tenure has been quite entrenched
   in issues pertaining to Iran, especially in regards to its democratic
   progress and humanitarian record, Iranian President Mahmoud
   Ahmadinejad's threatening statements toward Israel, and its pursuit of
   nuclear technology.

   In October 2005, Ahmadinejad stated that "Israel must be wiped off the
   map", to which Rice responded: "When the president of one country says
   that another country should be wiped off the face of the map, in
   violation of all of the norms of the United Nations, where they sit
   together as members, it has to be taken seriously." Rice then went on
   to name Iran as "probably the world's most important state sponsor of
   terrorism", whose people live "without freedom and without the prospect
   of freedom because an unelected few are denying them that."

   Rice has also been a vocal critic of Iran's human rights record. On
   February 3, 2005, Rice said the Iranian regime's treatment of its
   people is "something to be loathed". She also stated: "I don't think
   anybody thinks that the unelected mullahs who run that regime are a
   good thing for either the Iranian people or for the region." In
   February 2006, Rice called for funding to aid democratic reform in Iran
   through television and radio broadcasting, through helping pay for
   Iranians to study in America, and through supporting pro-democracy
   groups within the country.

   In recent years, Iran has also begun to pursue nuclear technology
   through uranium enrichment, which has been one of the most pertinent
   issues that Rice has dealt with during her tenure at the State
   Department. Iran maintains that its nuclear program only seeks to
   develop the capacity for peaceful civilian nuclear power generation.
   Rice, along with other nations, has contended that Iran's record of
   sponsoring terrorism and threatening the safety of other nations, along
   with its defiance of its treaty obligations, of the United Nations
   Security Council, and of the International Atomic Energy Agency, have
   not proven Iran to be responsible enough to conduct uranium enrichment
   without outside supervision. Under Rice, the official State Department
   consensus on the matter is that "[t]he United States believes the
   Iranian people should enjoy the benefits of a truly peaceful program to
   use nuclear reactors to generate electric power ... [and] support[s]
   the Iranian people’s rights to develop nuclear energy peacefully, with
   proper international safeguards."

   On September 9, 2005, Rice declared the refusal of Iran to halt its
   nuclear program unacceptable and called on Russia, China and India to
   join in threatening United Nations sanctions as punishment for Tehran,
   and on June 2, 2006, an international committee, consisting of the five
   permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, announced
   their plan to convince Iran to cease its nuclear activities. Rice
   represented the United States in the negotiation of the diplomatic
   initiative.

   On February 14, 2006, Iran restarted its uranium enrichment program
   despite calls from the international community not to do so. Rice
   responded by asserting that "[t]here is simply no peaceful rationale
   for the Iranian regime to resume uranium enrichment." Speaking on
   behalf of the United States and the European Union, Rice said they were
   "gravely concerned by Iran's long history of hiding sensitive nuclear
   activities from the IAEA, in violation of its obligations, its refusal
   to cooperate with the IAEA's investigation, its rejection of diplomatic
   initiatives offered by the EU and Russia and now its dangerous defiance
   of the entire international community." In May of 2006, Rice came up
   with a new approach for dealing with Iran: direct negotiation between
   Iran and the United States (alongside their European allies) and the
   possibility for "a package of economic incentives and some kind of
   longer-term relationship with the United States" in exchange for the
   suspension of uranium enrichment within Iran. Iran responded by saying
   that it will "never give up its legitimate rights, so the American
   preconditions are just unacceptable."

   On July 12, 2006, Rice, along with the foreign ministers of China,
   France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the European Union,
   held a press conference to announce that, as a result of Iran's refusal
   to open the door to diplomatic negotiations via suspending their
   uranium enrichment program, they had agreed to seek a UN Security
   Council Resolution against Iran under Article 41 of Chapter VII of the
   UN Charter. Article 41 gives such a resolution the power to interrupt
   or sever Iran's economic, transportational, telecommunicative, and
   diplomatic relations.

   Though the United States and Iran disagree on key issues, the State
   Department has offered aid to Iran on many different occasions. After a
   deadly earthquake struck the Iranian province of Lorestan in March of
   2005, Sec. Rice offered humanitarian aid to the country during a visit
   to England. Rice said her "thoughts and prayers" were with the victims.

Iraq

   Rice meets with former Iraqi Prime Minister al-Jaafari in June 2005
   Enlarge
   Rice meets with former Iraqi Prime Minister al-Jaafari in June 2005

   On September 30, 2005, as a keynote speaker at Princeton University's
   Celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Woodrow Wilson School of
   Public and International Affairs, Rice declared that the Iraq War was
   "set out to help the people of the Middle East transform their
   societies."

   Though repeatedly pressed for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.
   military troops from Iraq, Rice is known for her opposition to the use
   of "deadlines" and date-setting in diplomacy and has remained steadfast
   in her refusal to set a date for any withdrawal(s). Rice, while having
   little say in the issue of troop withdrawal, has consistently affirmed
   that American soldiers will not leave Iraq until the country is stable
   and its peacekeeping forces are able to maintain stability on their
   own.

   In 2005, when asked how long U.S. troops will stay in Iraq, Rice
   responded by saying, "I don't want to speculate. I do know that we are
   making progress with what the Iraqis themselves are capable of doing.
   And as they are able to do certain tasks, as they are able to hold
   their own territory, they will not need us to do that." When pressed
   again for a specific year, the Secretary added, "I think that even to
   try and speculate on how many years from now there will be a certain
   number of American forces is not appropriate."

   Rice lauded Iraq's voter turnout and peaceful transition into a
   sovereign constitutional government in 2005, and Rice (an
   East-European/Soviet expert) has frequently compared the post-war
   reconstruction of Iraq to that of Europe and Russia after World War II.
   In a Washington Post editorial published on December 11, 2005, Rice
   wrote:

     "Iraq ... in the face of a horrific insurgency has held historic
     elections, drafted and ratified a new national charter, and will go
     to the polls again in coming days to elect a new constitutional
     government. At this time last year, such unprecedented progress
     seemed impossible. One day it will all seem to have been inevitable.
     This is the nature of extraordinary times, which [former Secretary
     of State Dean Acheson] understood well and described perfectly in
     his memoirs. 'The significance of events,' he wrote, 'was shrouded
     in ambiguity. We groped after interpretations of them, sometimes
     reversed lines of action based on earlier views, and hesitated long
     before grasping what now seems obvious.' When Acheson left office in
     1953, he could not know the fate of the policies he helped to
     create. He certainly could never have predicted that nearly four
     decades later, war between Europe's major powers would be
     unthinkable, or that America and the world would be harvesting the
     fruits of his good decisions and managing the collapse of communism.
     But because leaders such as Acheson steered American statecraft with
     our principles when precedents for action were lacking, because they
     dealt with their world as it was but never believed they were
     powerless to change it for the better, the promise of democratic
     peace is now a reality in all of Europe and in much of Asia.">

     — Condoleezza Rice, "The Promise of Democratic Peace", The
     Washington Post, December 11, 2005

Middle East

   Rice shakes hands with former Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom in
   a July 2005 visit to Israel
   Enlarge
   Rice shakes hands with former Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom in
   a July 2005 visit to Israel

   One of the most eventful chapters of Secretary Rice's tenure so far has
   been the situation in the Middle East, particularly pertaining to
   Israel, Palestine, and its immediate neighbors, especially Lebanon.
   Rice has consistently been a supporter of Israel, and has defended
   Israel's right to protect itself in the ongoing Israel-Palestine
   conflict and in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. Rice has also been a
   key player in promoting the " roadmap for peace" in that region, which
   includes the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state. On August
   29, 2006, she stated that the Middle East "should be a Middle East in
   which there is a Palestinian state in which Palestinians can have their
   own aspirations met, one that is not corrupt, one that is democratic,
   [and] one in which there is only one authority."

   Gaza Withdrawal

   Rice has spent much time and effort persuading Israel to withdraw from
   Palestinian territories and freeing up commerce and travel between the
   two areas. During the summer of 2005, the Secretary set out on a
   mission to help ensure that Israeli leadership would follow through on
   withdrawing forces from settlements in Gaza and the West Bank.
   Initially faced with much skepticism, doubt, and lack of progress, Rice
   spent much of April 2005 raising support amongst Arab leaders. In July,
   when the situation, in many's opinion, began to lag, she visited the
   region personally to, in her words, "help bring the weight of the
   United States" to the discussions. While in the region, Rice guided the
   negotiations and helped coordinate the final stages of the move, which
   eventually came to fruition in September. Rice hailed the successful
   withdrawal as a victory for both Israel and Palestine, saying, "This is
   an historic moment for both sides, and the commitment of both sides to
   a successful disengagement process has been impressive." Gaza is now
   under Palestinian control once again for the first time in 38 years.
   However, one key issue that Palestinians felt was going unresolved was
   the inability to travel through border crossings in and out of Gaza,
   which had prevented the ability of Palestine to rebuild its shattered
   economy.

   Border Crossings Deal
   Rice announces the successful brokering of the deal to open Gaza border
   crossings after a sleepless 48-hour negotiation
   Enlarge
   Rice announces the successful brokering of the deal to open Gaza border
   crossings after a sleepless 48-hour negotiation

   In November 2005, Secretary Rice made it clear she would attempt to
   negotiate an opening of the Gaza border crossings once and for all.
   James Wolfensohn, who had been appointed as the United States' special
   envoy for Gaza Disengagement for the Quartet on the Middle East, had
   brokered months of talks on the issue and had ultimately been
   unsuccessful in negotiating a deal. Wolfensohn warned that increasing
   tensions in the region left very little time for Israel and Palestine
   to wrap up the deal. The Secretary initially encountered resistance,
   but decided to make a final push to broker the deal, extending her
   visit to Jerusalem an extra 48 hours. Rice, in a Kissingerian feat,
   launched a mediation session at 11:00 p.m. on Monday, November 14,
   meeting alternately with Israel and Palestinian delegations and
   refusing to allow either side to go to bed until they reached the deal
   which had eluded mediators since 1967. "Piece by piece", one senior
   State Department official recounted, Rice shuttled up and down the
   corridor negotating down through a long list of differences between
   Israel and Palestine that included a proposed blacklist of Palestinians
   that have been detained by Israel and a concern that future violence
   would induce a renewed closure of the border crossings. By mid-morning
   of Tuesday, November 15, Rice held a press conference to announce that
   an agreement had been made between the two parties to open Gaza's
   borders, which many hailed as a major step forward in the "roadmap for
   peace" process. The deal laid out the terms for establishing a system
   of transportation between Gaza and the West Bank, as well as defining
   the operations in regards to transporting cargo and people across the
   border and allowing Gaza to reopen its international airport and begin
   work on a seaport that will expand Palestine's capacity for
   international commerce. The Rafah border crossing, which provides
   Palestine's only land link to another country other than Israel, was a
   key accomplishment of the negotiations. The deal also provides for
   monitoring of the crossings by officials from the European Union.

   Hamas, Palestinian elections
   Map showing electoral districts and areas of formal Palestinian control
   (green)
   Enlarge
   Map showing electoral districts and areas of formal Palestinian control
   (green)

   The next major undertaking of Secretary Rice in the region came when
   she pushed for peaceful, democratic elections in Palestine following
   the death of Yasser Arafat. Rice asserted that "there should be the
   ability of Palestinian people to participate in the elections" and
   claimed that democratic elections would represent "a key step in the
   process of building a peaceful, democratic Palestinian state".
   Secretary Rice, also aware that members of the U.S.-labeled terrorist
   organization Hamas were planning on infiltrating the new government,
   stated that "there should be no place in the political process for
   groups or individuals who refuse to renounce terror and violence,
   recognize Israel's right to exist, and disarm", coining what has come
   to be one of Rice's more famous phrases, saying, "You cannot have one
   foot in politics and the other foot in terror."

   One of the first steps Rice took in the matter was pressuring a
   reluctant Israel to allow Israeli Palestinians in East Jerusalem to
   vote in the Palestinian Authority elections. The Secretary helped to
   successfully persuade them, and Israel's cabinet voted unanimously to
   allow Palestinians in East Jerusalem to vote in the January 25
   parliamentary elections, while banning Hamas, which officially calls
   for Israel's destruction, from campaigning in East Jerusalem. When, on
   January 25, Palestine held its elections in a relatively very peaceful
   and open format, Rice lauded the turnout, congratulating President
   Abbas and the Palestinian people, while at the same time informing
   Hamas, which had taken control of the government in the election, that
   it would "have to make some difficult choices", saying, "Those who win
   elections have an obligation to govern democratically. … It now
   inherits the obligations of a Palestinian government, authority, that
   go back now for more than a decade to recognize the right of Israel to
   exist, to renounce violence, to disarm militias, as is the case in the
   roadmap, and to find a peaceful solution in two states."

   One of the key points of contention between Israel and the newly
   Hamas-led Palestinian government is Hamas' official charter position
   which refuses to recognize Israel. Immediately following Hamas' victory
   in the elections, Rice attempted to garner international support in
   demanding that Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist. By April, Hamas
   officials appeared to publicly state that they are willing to work
   toward recognizing Israel. Under their terms, Israel would have to
   fully withdraw from disputed territories, including Gaza, the West
   Bank, and East Jerusalem. Many saw this as a positive starting point
   for negotiations that would allow the "roadmap" process to continue.
   The statement was verified by Hamas leaders such as Mohammed Ghazal, a
   Hamas militia official, who stated that Hamas may be willing to amend
   its charter to recognize Israel, saying, "The charter is not the
   Quran." Ghazal went on to state that while he agreed with Hamas'
   positions, "we’re talking now about reality, about political solutions
   … The realities are different."

   2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
   Rice delivers a special briefing on Middle East Peace in the State
   Department Briefing Room, July 21, 2006
   Enlarge
   Rice delivers a special briefing on Middle East Peace in the State
   Department Briefing Room, July 21, 2006

   In mid-July 2006, the Middle East peace process encountered a new
   obstacle on a different front when Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon
   launched rocket attacks into Israel and ambushed Israeli convoys,
   kidnapping two soldiers and killing three, sparking what has become
   known as the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. Secretary Rice immediately
   condemned the act, calling Hezbollah a "terrorist organization" and
   saying that the action "undermines regional stability and goes against
   the interests of both the Israeli and Lebanese people", specifically
   calling on Syria to "use its influence to support a positive outcome."
   That day, Rice was one of the first to speak directly to UN Secretary
   General Kofi Annan, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Israeli
   Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni concerning the incident. Israel initiated
   aerial bombardments against Lebanon on July 13 and sent in land troops
   on July 23 to take out rocket launching sites that were shelling
   Northern Israeli cities, as well as to look for and recover the two
   kidnapped Israeli soldiers.

   While the official United States position given by President George W.
   Bush was a clear endorsement of Israel's activities, Secretary Rice
   seemed to take a middle ground. While she supported Israel's right to
   defend itself from Hezbollah attacks, she repeatedly cautioned Israel
   to be responsible in minimalizing collateral damage. Before the major
   fighting began, Rice demanded that both Israel and Lebanon "act with
   restraint to resolve this incident peacefully and to protect innocent
   life and civilian infrastructure." She also continued to pressure Syria
   to take a more active positive role throughout the crisis, accusing
   Syria of "sheltering the people who have been perpetrating these acts"
   and calling on it "to act responsibly and stop the use of its territory
   for these kinds of activities[,] to bring all pressure on those that it
   is harbouring to stop this and to return these soldiers and to allow
   the situation to be de-escalated."
   Rice, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and Italian Prime Minister
   Romano Prodi work to lay the foundation for Resolution 1701, which
   ultimately imposed a ceasefire on the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
   Enlarge
   Rice, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and Italian Prime Minister
   Romano Prodi work to lay the foundation for Resolution 1701, which
   ultimately imposed a ceasefire on the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict

   Rice seemed to be holding off on her involvement during the conflict's
   early stages, which received criticism from some. "When it is
   appropriate and when it is necessary and will be helpful to the
   situation, I am more than pleased to go to the region", Rice stated on
   July 19. When Rice arrived in the Middle East a few days later, one of
   her first moves was a surprise unannounced visit to Lebanese Prime
   Minister Siniora to praise Siniora's "courage and steadfastness" and
   show U.S. support for the Lebanese people. Rice initially drew
   criticism for her statement that the conflict was part of "the birth
   pangs of a new Middle East", stating that Israel, Lebanon, and the
   international community had to "be certain that we're pushing forward
   to the new Middle East not going back to the old one" At the time, many
   felt that the statements were too presumptuous with no clear end to the
   conflict in sight, though much of this criticism has died down since
   the successful passage of the ceasefire in August.

   While things initially looked positive for the Secretary in the region,
   an unfortunate mistake was made by the Israeli military when it
   launched an airstrike on a suspected Hezbollah hideout in Qana,
   Lebanon, that killed 20–60 innocent civilians, many of whom were women
   and children. The airstrike seemed to sour many nation's support for
   Israel's endeavor and Beirut even cancelled a visit by Secretary Rice
   as a result. While the tragedy was a major setback in the negotiation
   process, it seemed to be a turning point for Israel, who, afterward,
   began taking a path toward a cease-fire, which they had previously
   rejected. Before Rice left the region on July 27 to tend to other
   commitments, including the ASEAN Regional Forum in Kuala Lumpur,
   Malaysia she was able to negotiate a quick 48-hour halt on Israeli
   air-raids, except in case of unprovoked attacks for self defense.
   Rice appears with UN Secretary General Annan to announce the successful
   passage of Resolution 1701, which imposed a ceasefire on the 2006
   Israel-Lebanon conflict
   Enlarge
   Rice appears with UN Secretary General Annan to announce the successful
   passage of Resolution 1701, which imposed a ceasefire on the 2006
   Israel-Lebanon conflict

   Rice ultimately cut her Asia-trip short to return to the Mideast on
   July 29, where the outlines of the ceasefire to come began to take
   shape. As the end of the conflict began to come into sight, Rice
   constantly demanded that the global community do what it could to
   ensure that the Mideast region would never again return to, what she
   called, the "status quo ante". Rice saw the situation as an opportunity
   to create a new environment in which Israel and Lebanon could live in
   peace, and in which Lebanon could have full control over all its
   territories without Hezbollah acting as a "state within a state", being
   able to launch terrorist attacks on Israel. Building on the two
   resolutions that came out of the G8 Conference and the steps that had
   been taken at the conference in Rome, Italy in late July, the Secretary
   worked with other leaders at the United Nations to pass UN Security
   Council Resolution 1701 on August 11, 2006, which sought to resolve the
   crisis and has, so far, put a significant end to hostilities in the
   region. The ceasefire, which both parties had initially rejected, was
   passed unanimously by both the Israeli and the Lebanese cabinets, and
   went into effect on August 14 at 8:00 a.m. local time. The ceasefire
   that Rice helped broker provided for a full cessation of hostilities, a
   Lebanese-led international force to take the place of the Israeli
   forces, the disarmament of Hezbollah, full control of the Lebanese
   government to Lebanon, and an absence of paramilitary forces (including
   and implying Hezbollah) south of the Litani River; it also emphasizes
   the need for the immediate release of the two kidnapped Israeli
   soldiers. Rice lauded the outcome and expressed pleasure that the
   hostilities in the area had finally been brought to an end. Though
   there were sporadic, but small, spurts of violence after the ceasefire
   took effect, it has ultimately sustained, while international
   peacekeeping forces, volunteered largely by European and Arab
   countries, began to replace Israeli forces. On October 2, 2006, the
   last Israeli forces were completely withdrawn from Lebanon, allowing
   the UN and the Lebanese military to completely take over the
   operations.

   She openly supported Mahmoud Abbas in his condition to recognize Israel
   in her visit to the Middle East early October 2006.

North Korea

   Rice, in a July, 2005 press conference, announces that North Korea has
   agreed to return to the Six Party Talks
   Enlarge
   Rice, in a July, 2005 press conference, announces that North Korea has
   agreed to return to the Six Party Talks

   North Korea, like Iran, is barred from formal diplomatic relations with
   the United States, though much of Rice's career in the State Department
   has been consumed by issues surrounding Korea. Perhaps the most
   important has been the international concern over North Korea's nuclear
   weapons program. A series of negotiations featuring China, North Korea,
   South Korea, the United States, Russia, and Japan, have taken place
   since 2003, which have been dubbed "The Six Party talks". These talks
   have been aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

   On February 10, 2005, North Korea withdrew from the talks after
   President Bush's 2005 State of the Union Address, in which he stated
   that North Korea's nuclear program must be dismantled and pledged to go
   on the offensive against tyranny in the world. North Korea complained
   that the United States harbored a "hostile policy" toward their country
   and stated that they were permanently withdrawing from the Six-Party
   talks. In the following months, there was uncertainty over whether Rice
   could convince Kim Jong-Il to re-enter the negotiations, but in July
   2005, North Korea announced that they had been convinced to return to
   the discussion.

   After the first phase of the 5th round of talks, which took place from
   November 9– 11, 2005, North Korea suspended its participations in the
   negotiations because the United States would not unfreeze some of its
   financial assets in a Macau bank. Rice has consistently called for the
   regime to return to the talks. On May 1, 2006, Rice stated that North
   Korea needs "to return expeditiously to the talks without
   preconditions, to dismantle its nuclear programs in a complete,
   verifiable and irreversible manner, and to cease all illicit and
   proliferation activities."

   On June 19, 2006, matters with North Korea were further complicated
   when it finished fueling an intercontinental ballistic missile that the
   regime said it would test fire. North Korea had previously self-imposed
   a missile-firing moratorium, but threatened to launch the missile
   anyway. Rice stated that "it would be a very serious matter and indeed
   a provocative act" for the North to follow through on the act, and that
   if the North decided to do so, "it would be taken with utmost
   seriousness."

   On July 5, 2006, North Korea test-fired seven rockets, including the
   infamous Taepodong-2, sparking international backlash. Rice, in a press
   conference held on the same day, stated that she couldn't even begin to
   try to judge what motivated the North Koreans to act in such a way.
   Rice felt that North Korea had "miscalculated that the international
   community would remain united [in their opposition to the missile
   test-firing]" and "whatever they thought they were doing, they've
   gotten a very strong reaction from the international community."
   Following the missile test, the United Nations Security Council held an
   emergency meeting and strongly condemned the actions, though no
   official sanctions resulted at the time.

   Then, in early October 2006, North Korea claimed that it was preparing
   to test a nuclear explosive device. While the rumors could not be
   substantiated by satellite surveillance beforehand, the test was
   actually carried out on October 9, 2006 with only twenty minutes
   warning. The nuclear detonation test was, purportedly, in response to
   the United States' decision to not hold direct bilateral talks with the
   regime, as well as America's increasing pressure on the government,
   which North Korea claims is evidence that the United States wishes to
   attack or invade their country. Secretary Rice disputes North Korea's
   claim that the nuclear test was committed to deter America from
   invading, saying, "We shouldn't even allow them such an excuse. ...
   It's just not the case. ... [T]here is no intention to invade or attack
   them. [T]hey have that guarantee."
   Rice meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Busan, South
   Korea to discuss North Korea
   Enlarge
   Rice meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Busan, South
   Korea to discuss North Korea

   Rice has also repeatedly offered direct negotiations with North Korea
   in the context of the Six Party Talks, but she has held her ground in
   her decision not to hold bilateral talks with the dictatorship,
   stating, "We've been through bilateral talks with the North Koreans in
   the 1994 agreed framework. It didn't hold. ... The North Koreans
   cheated [by] pursuing another path to a nuclear weapon, the so-called
   'highly enriched uranium' path. ... [I]f [Kim Jong-Il] wants a
   bilateral deal, it's because he doesn't want to face the pressure of
   other states [nearer to him] that have leverage. It's not because he
   wants a bilateral deal with the United States. He doesn't want to face
   the leverage of China or South Korea or others."

   Following the nuclear test, Secretary Rice made numerous calls to
   foreign leaders to consolidate support for taking punitive action
   against North Korea. Rice was able to draw condemnations from even some
   of North Korea's closest defenders, including China, who admitted the
   test was "flagrant" and "brazen". On the same day as the nuclear
   detonation, the United Nations Security Council convened another
   emergency meeting, where a clear consensus was apparent in favour of
   sanctions against the regime, with even China saying that it supported
   punishing the regime, changing its position from July, 2006, when it
   vetoed any sanctions on North Korea following its missile tests. On
   October 14, 2006, Secretary Rice worked with allies to pass a UN
   Security Council resolution against North Korea that demanded North
   Korea destroy all of its nuclear weapons, imposed a ban on tanks,
   warships, combat aircraft and missiles in the country, imposed an
   embargo on some luxury items that government officials enjoy while the
   general populace starves, froze some of the country's weapons-related
   financial assets, and allows for inspections of North Korean cargo.
   Secretary Rice called the resolution "the toughest sanctions on North
   Korea that have ever been imposed" and hailed the unanimous passage of
   the sanctions, which even North Korean-friendly China supported.

   While Rice consistently affirms that the United States will not
   preemptively invade, attack, or topple the North Korean regime, she
   emphatically assured Japan during an October 18, 2006, visit that "the
   United States has the will and the capability to meet the full
   range–and I underscore full range–of its deterrent and security
   commitments to Japan", which many have interpreted to mean that America
   would not hesitate to use its military might should North Korea attack
   one of America's allies.

Russia

   Secretary Rice speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during an
   April 2005 trip to Russia
   Enlarge
   Secretary Rice speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during an
   April 2005 trip to Russia

   In April 2005, Rice went to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin. On
   the plane trip over, she related comments critical of Russia's
   democratic progress to reporters. "Trends have not been positive on the
   democratic side", said Rice. "There have been some setbacks, but I do
   still think there is a considerable amount of individual freedom in
   Russia, which is important." In person she told Putin: "We see Russia
   as a partner in solving regional issues, like the Balkans or the Middle
   East."

   In late 2005, there was a dispute between Russia and Ukraine after
   Russia decided to quadruple the price of energy being provided to the
   Ukrainian market. Rice subsequently criticised Russia's actions,
   accusing Russia of using its gas wealth as a political weapon. She
   called on Russia to behave as a responsible energy supplier and stated
   that the act did not show the international community "that it is now
   prepared to act … as an energy supplier in a responsible way." Rice
   insisted, "When you say you want to be a part of the international
   economy and you want to be a responsible actor in the international
   economy, then you play by its rules … I think that kind of behavior is
   going to continue to draw comment about the distance between Russian
   behaviour and something like this and what would be expected of a
   responsible member of the G-8."

   In January 2006, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the populist leader of the
   nationalistic Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, made highly
   controversial statements that Rice was critical of Russia because she
   was unmarried and aging. Zhirinovsky said, "Condoleezza Rice released a
   coarse anti-Russian statement … because she is a single woman who has
   no children. … Condoleezza Rice needs a company of soldiers. She needs
   to be taken to barracks where she would be satisfied. On the other
   hand, she can hardly be satisfied because of her age. … The true reason
   of Ms. Rice's attack against Russia is very simple. Condoleezza Rice is
   a very cruel, offended woman who lacks men's attention." A State
   Department official later said that Rice had chosen "to not dignify the
   article with a response".

   In February 2006, Rice described the United States' relationship with
   Russia as "very good", saying, "In general, I think we have very good
   relations with Russia. Probably the best relations that have been there
   for quite some time. We cooperate in the war on terror. We cooperate in
   a number of areas. Obviously we have some differences, too. But on the
   Iranian situation, we've actually had very good cooperation with the
   Russians."

   Though there was some question over whether or not Rice could convince
   Russia not to block the United States' move to refer Iran to the United
   Nations Security Council in early 2006 (because of Russia's economic
   and diplomatic ties to Iran), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
   eventually called Secretary Rice to confirm that Russia had agreed to
   allow the move.

Venezuela

   Rice discusses American-Venezuelan relations at the CARICOM
   Ministerials in March 2006
   Enlarge
   Rice discusses American-Venezuelan relations at the CARICOM
   Ministerials in March 2006

   The Bush administration has been particularly critical of the
   leadership of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, particularly for his
   uncooperation in the drug war, as well as his organized opposition to
   free trade in the Western Hemisphere. During Secretary Rice's
   confirmation hearings, she commented on Chávez: "We are very concerned
   about a democratically elected leader who governs in an illiberal way,
   and some of the steps he's taken against the media, against the
   opposition, I think are really very deeply troubling." Chávez reacted
   to this criticism by stating that he thought Rice was "dreaming about"
   him, presumably in a romantic manner. Chávez stated that Rice's
   problems with him were a product of sexual frustration and added, "I
   could invite her on a date to see what happens between us." However, he
   stated that he would not "make that sacrifice" for his country and
   instead nominated three political allies to "do it". In another speech,
   Chávez called Rice a "true illiterate" and asked Fidel Castro to mail
   to her samples of books to "see if she learns to respect the dignity of
   the people and learns a bit about us."

   The UN has been seeking a Latin-American nation to assume a seat on the
   United Nations Security Council, which Venezuela has been actively
   campaigning for. Secretary Rice, however, has been directing a global
   lobbying campaign by U.S. envoys in foreign capitals, contending that
   Venezuela doesn't belong on the Security Council. Rice has been pushing
   instead for Guatemala to get the seat on the Security Council. Her
   opposition to Venezuela's bid for a council seat was seemingly
   reinforced among UN members after Chávez's speech to the United Nations
   General Assembly.

   In the speech, Chávez calls George W. Bush the "devil" and claims the
   podium from which Bush spoke smells of "sulfur". Secretary Rice
   declined to "dignify Chávez's remarks with a comment", though she did
   denounce them as "unbecoming for a head of state."

   On October 16, 2006, the United Nations General Assembly, which
   requires 2/3rds of votes for any country wishing to earn a seat on the
   Security Council, gave Guatemala 110 votes and Venezuela 75. While
   neither country had been able to garner enough votes, and eventually
   chose Panama as a compromise substitute, the lack of support for
   Venezuela was a major setback that angered Chávez, who accused the
   United States of waging a "dirty war" against Venezuela's candidacy.

Terrorism

   Rice meets with Afghan Foreign Minister Spanta to discuss
   anti-terrorism efforts
   Enlarge
   Rice meets with Afghan Foreign Minister Spanta to discuss
   anti-terrorism efforts

   Dr. Rice's policy as Secretary of State views counterterrorism as a
   matter of being preventative, and not merely punitive. In an interview
   that took place on December 18, 2005, Sec. Rice stated: "We have to
   remember that in this war on terrorism, we're not talking about
   criminal activity where you can allow somebody to commit the crime and
   then you go back and you arrest them and you question them. If they
   succeed in committing their crime, then hundreds or indeed thousands of
   people die. That's why you have to prevent, and intelligence is the
   long pole in the tent in preventing attacks."

   Rice has also been a frequent critic of the intelligence community's
   inability to cooperate and share information, which she believes is an
   integral part of preventing terrorism. In 2000, a year before the
   September 11th terrorist attacks, Dr. Rice warned during an interview
   on WJR, a Detroit radio station: "You really have to get the
   intelligence agencies better organized to deal with the terrorist
   threat to the United States itself. One of the problems that we have is
   a kind of split responsibility, of course, between the CIA and foreign
   intelligence and the FBI and domestic intelligence." She then added:
   "There needs to be better cooperation because we don't want to wake up
   one day and find out that Osama bin Laden has been successful on our
   own territory."

   Sec. Rice also has promoted the idea that counterterrorism involves not
   only confronting the governments and organizations that promote and
   condone terrorism, but also the ideologies that fuel terrorism. In a
   speech given on July 29, 2005, Sec. Rice asserted that "[s]ecuring
   America from terrorist attack is more than a matter of law enforcement.
   We must also confront the ideology of hatred in foreign societies by
   supporting the universal hope of liberty and the inherent appeal of
   democracy".

   In January 2005, during Bush's second inaugural ceremonies, Rice first
   used the term " outposts of tyranny" to refer to countries felt to
   threaten world peace and human rights. This term has been called a
   descendant of Bush's phrase, " Axis of Evil", used to describe Iraq,
   Iran and North Korea. She identified six such "outposts" in which she
   said the United States has a duty to foster freedom: Cuba, Zimbabwe,
   Burma and Belarus, as well as Iran and North Korea.

Travels

   Rice meets with Cardinal Angelo Sodano during an international trip.
   Enlarge
   Rice meets with Cardinal Angelo Sodano during an international trip.

   As Secretary of State, Rice has visited nearly seventy countries and
   travelled several hundred thousand miles. Rice travelled more miles in
   her first year as Secretary than her predecessor, Colin Powell, did in
   his five-year career. She has also set the record for most miles flown
   by a Secretary of State on a single trip and most continuous miles in a
   single flight. By the end of 2005, Rice had travelled 240,261 miles,
   visited 49 countries, and spent over 500 hours in flight.

   In February 2005, Rice began an extended tour of Europe and the Middle
   East for the first time in her official capacity of Secretary of State.
   She traveled to Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Turkey, Israel,
   the Palestinian Territories, Italy, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

   On the fifth anniversary of the September 11th attacks, Rice attended
   an event at the Halifax International Airport, Halifax, Nova Scotia,
   Canada to recognize Canada's support on that day. Video link.

Future prospects

   Rice has risen to become one of the most powerful female and African
   American political figures in U.S. history. For example, in August 2004
   and again in August 2005 Forbes magazine named Dr. Rice the world's
   most powerful woman. And in August 2006, Forbes named Rice the second
   most powerful woman in the world, behind Angela Merkel, the German
   chancellor. Rice is also fourth in line to succeed the President. This
   is a higher ranking in the presidential line of succession than any
   other woman had ever achieved before the 2006 midterm elections when
   Nancy Pelosi became the Speaker of the House. (Former Secretary of
   State Madeleine Albright was not born in the U.S. and was therefore
   ineligible to become President).

   Her supporters have touted a future Vice Presidential or Presidential
   candidacy as a possibility. Many websites and organizations seek to
   draft Rice and make her candidacy a reality. The most noteworthy of
   these groups, " Americans for Dr. Rice", is a 527 group, not approved
   by any candidate or party, dedicated to the candidacy, and election, of
   Rice in the 2008 presidential race.

   Rice has repeatedly said she has no desire or interest in becoming
   President. Interviewed by Tim Russert on March 14, 2005, Rice declared,
   "I will not run for president of the United States. How is that? I
   don't know how many ways to say 'no' in this town."

   During an interview with Russian Echo Moscow Radio, Rice was asked
   about her intentions concerning running for President. When asked by a
   schoolgirl, "One day you will run for president?" she replied,
   "President, да, да [yes, yes]", before she quickly answered with "нет,
   нет, нет [no, no, no]."

   However, in May 2005, several of Rice's associates claimed that she
   would be willing to run for the presidency if she were drafted into the
   race. On October 16, 2005, on NBC's Meet the Press, Rice again denied
   she would run for President in 2008. While she says she is flattered
   that many people want her to run, she says it is not what she wants to
   do with her life. Rice told Fox News Sunday host, Chris Wallace: "I'm
   quite certain that there are going to be really fine candidates for
   president from our party, and I'm looking forward to seeing them and
   perhaps supporting them." Interviewed on BBC television's The Politics
   Show on October 23, she again stated her decision not to run, although
   she avoided stating that she would not run under any circumstances.
   Rice has never said that she would not accept the Republican nomination
   were it to be offered to her, and has consistently avoided repeating
   the Sherman Oath ("If nominated I will not run; if elected I will not
   serve.") which myriads of other speculative candidates have freely
   given before (including Vice President Cheney).
   Rice (left) and Laura Bush (second from the right) meet Liberian
   President-Elect Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (center), the world's first black
   female president, before Sirleaf's inauguration in Monrovia on January
   16, 2006
   Enlarge
   Rice (left) and Laura Bush (second from the right) meet Liberian
   President-Elect Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (centre), the world's first black
   female president, before Sirleaf's inauguration in Monrovia on January
   16, 2006

   Certain high-profile political figures, including Laura Bush, Former
   White House Spokesman Scott McClellan, and world leaders such as
   Russian President Vladimir Putin and Australian Prime Minister John
   Howard have also voiced encouragement. Laura Bush has perhaps been the
   strongest proponent of Rice's candidacy. On CNN's The Situation Room on
   January 17, 2006, Mrs. Bush implicated Rice when asked if she thought
   the United States would soon have a female President, stating: "I'd
   love to see her run. She's terrific." Mrs. Bush then turned to advocacy
   during an interview on CNN's Larry King Live on March 24, 2006, in
   which she stated that Dr. Rice would make an "excellent president", and
   that she wished Americans could "talk her into running."

   Rice has frequently been mentioned as a possible opponent of Hillary
   Clinton in the 2008 election, as is the subject of the book Condi vs.
   Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race, by political strategist Dick
   Morris and his wife, Eileen McGann-Morris.

   Even in spite of Rice's denials of any presidential aspirations, many
   recent polls show her as the number one or number two most desired
   Republican nominee, including prominent ones like Marist, Rasmussen,
   and Zogby. In fact, a Zogby America poll from December 2005 showed Rice
   defeating Democratic potentials Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and Mark
   Warner. However, a later WNBC/Marist pollfrom February 2006 showed Rice
   losing to both Clinton and John Edwards, while still defeating Kerry.
   Also in February 2006, TheWhiteHouseProject.org named Condoleezza Rice
   one of its "8 for '08", a group of eight women who they think could
   possibly run and/or be elected president in 2008.

   Rice has publicly expressed aspirations to become the next commissioner
   of the National Football League and following the announcement of Paul
   Tagliabue's retirement, she was widely believed to be a serious
   contender for the post. If appointed to the office, she would have been
   both the first African American and the first female commissioner of
   any North American major sports league. However, Rice, a Cleveland
   Browns fan, declined to take the post, stating that she preferred to
   remain as Secretary of State.

Criticisms and responses

   Rice makes an appearance at Boston College, where she is greeted by
   Father William Leahy. Some attendees protested during her speech over
   disagreements on the War on Terror.
   Enlarge
   Rice makes an appearance at Boston College, where she is greeted by
   Father William Leahy. Some attendees protested during her speech over
   disagreements on the War on Terror.

   Rice has been criticised for her involvement in the George W. Bush
   administration both in the United States and abroad. Protesters have
   sought to exclude her from appearing at schools such as Princeton
   University and Boston College, which prompted the resignation of an
   adjunct professor at Boston. There has also been an effort to protest
   her public speeches abroad, as well as signs of frustration from the
   members of the gay and lesbian community.

   It was also rumored that while Hurricane Katrina was hitting New
   Orleans, Rice was attending a Broadway show. In the documentary "When
   the Levees Broke" by African American filmmaker Spike Lee, Michael Eric
   Dyson criticized Rice for this action, stating that, "While people were
   drowning in New Orleans, she was going up and down Madison Ave. buying
   Ferragamo shoes. Then she went to see Spamalot."

   California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer has also criticised Rice in
   relation to the war in Iraq: "I personally believe — this is my
   personal view — that your loyalty to the mission you were given, to
   sell the war, overwhelmed your respect for the truth."

   Businessman Donald Trump, in a television interview on CNBC, stated
   that Rice is ineffective in her role, adding that, unlike other
   secretaries of state, she goes on foreign trips, but, in his opinion,
   no solutions are ever achieved.

Racial criticisms

   Rice's approval ratings from January 2005 to the present. Rice's
   ratings saw decreases following a heated battle for her confirmation as
   Secretary of State and following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Her
   ratings saw increases after her first tour of Europe and the Middle
   East in February 2005, her brokering of the Gaza Border-Opening Deal in
   November 2005, and her involvement in ending the 2006 Israel-Lebanon
   conflict.
   Enlarge
   Rice's approval ratings from January 2005 to the present. Rice's
   ratings saw decreases following a heated battle for her confirmation as
   Secretary of State and following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Her
   ratings saw increases after her first tour of Europe and the Middle
   East in February 2005, her brokering of the Gaza Border-Opening Deal in
   November 2005, and her involvement in ending the 2006 Israel-Lebanon
   conflict.

   Rice's rise within the George W. Bush administration initially drew a
   largely positive response from many in the African American community.
   In a 2002 survey, then National Security Advisor Rice was viewed
   favorably by 41% of African American respondents, but another 40% did
   not know Rice well enough to rate her and her profile remained
   comparatively obscure. As her role increased, some African American
   commentators began to express doubts concerning Rice's stances and
   statements on various issues. In 2005, Washington Post columnist Eugene
   Robinson asked, "How did [Rice] come to a worldview so radically
   different from that of most black Americans?"

   Other writers have also noted what they perceive to be a distance
   between Rice and the black community. The Black Commentator magazine
   described sentiments given in a speech by Rice at a black gathering as
   "more than strange – they were evidence of profound personal
   disorientation. A black woman who doesn’t know how to talk to black
   people is of limited political use to an administration that has few
   African American allies." When Rice invoked the civil rights movement
   to clarify her position on the invasion of Iraq, Margaret Kimberley,
   another writer for The Black Commentator, felt that her use of the
   rhetoric was "offensive". Stan Correy, an interviewer from the
   Australian Broadcasting Corporation, characterized many African
   Americans involved with civil rights and politics as viewing this
   rhetoric as "cynical". Rice was also described by Bill Fletcher, Jr.,
   the former leader of the TransAfrica Forum, a foreign policy lobbying
   organization in Washington, D.C., as "very cold and distant and only
   black by accident." In August 2005, American musician, actor, and
   social activist Harry Belafonte, who serves on the Board of
   TransAfrica, referred to African Americans in the Bush administration
   as "black tyrants". Belafonte's comments received mixed reactions.

   Rice has defended herself from such criticisms on several occasions.
   During a September 14, 2005 interview, she said: "Why would I worry
   about something like that? ... The fact of the matter is I've been
   black all my life. Nobody needs to tell me how to be black."

   A few notable African Americans have defended Rice from across the
   aisle, including Mike Espy, Andrew Young, C. Delores Tucker (chair of
   the National Congress of Black Women), Clarence Page, Colbert King,
   Dorothy Height (chair and president emerita of the National Council of
   Negro Women) and Kweisi Mfume (former Congressman and former CEO of the
   NAACP).
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