Review: The Mighty & the Almighty by Madeleine Albright

As the former Ambassador to the U.N. and later the Secretary of State under Bill Clinton, it is safe to say that Madeline Albright is an authority on foreign policy. She is thoughtful, intelligent, insightful, and, most importantly, prescient. If Albright sees troubled waters ahead, the wise take heed. Her prescriptions are supported by her thorough and technical knowledge of world affairs. She penned this book, The Mighty and the Almighty, to address today’s gathering storm: the influence of religion on world politics.

Even the most logical among us sometimes integrate our own personal preferences, biased by our upbringing, into our worldview. Albright is no exception. The story of her Czechoslovakian family, her Jewish heritage, and her Catholic faith, is a compelling backdrop to the principles by which she produces her conclusions. For Albright, as with many people of faith, religion must be a good thing. When religion produces violence, the failing is with people, not with faith. Albright follows the typical reasoning of liberal Christians. All religions, she believes, are seeking the same truth, only in different ways. Faith includes doubt. The three major Abrahamic religions are all religions of peace, though they are occasionally hijacked by demagogues for evil purposes.

I am well acquainted with fundamentalist religion. I don’t know how Albright would fare in a theological debate with a true fundamentalist. The truth is that the violence and misogyny and prejudice they preach actually is in the holy book. Yes, you can find passages advocating peace as well, but this is the contradictory nature of organized religion. Liberal Christians resolve these contradictions by denying that the scriptures are literally true. Secretary Albright may find the greater truth in the metaphor rather than the actual details of the biblical stories, but the details are still there, ready for a fundamentalist to translate into a call to arms.

Such a criticism is not really fair. Albright does not pretend to be a theologian. She barely touches on the philosophical underpinnings of religion. She gives the old “free will” answer to the question of why a benevolent god would allow tragic events to occur. It’s an old saw that Richard Dawkins could destroy in two seconds. The thesis of the book, however, is not whether gods actually exist, but how the belief in gods affects international relations.

Religion is part of the human experience. It is so pervasive that it is nearly universal. World leaders may not make their decisions solely based on religion, but their personal moral code is usually informed by the faith of their ancestors. Traditionally, religion has not been taken into account in diplomacy. In the wake of 9/11, that is starting to change. Albright pioneered the education of ambassadors in the predominant religion of the countries to which they were assigned. It is difficult to argue with her on this point. Even a secularist like me must admit that a good understanding of religion can help grease the wheels of the political machine.

She is concerned about how America is perceived in the Muslim world, a concern that is heated by the American occupation of Iraq. While not giving any excuses for violence, Albright is not afraid to reexamine American policies that many Muslims consider abhorrent. Our bungling in Middle Eastern politics goes back to the support of the shah of Iran in the 1970s. The U.S. government has never quite gotten a handle on how to deal with the oil-rich principalities in Arabia and Persia. After a series of crises, including hostages, OPEC oil restrictions, and, more recently, the terrorists tacks of September 11th, 2001, Washington should be well motivated to communicate with the Arab world on their wavelength. That wavelength is tuned to Islam.

In regards to Albright’s policy analysis and recommendations, I agree almost entirely. How could I not? She appreciates the delicacy of the Iraq situation. She even invoked the Vietnam comparison, stating “the experiences of the United States in Vietnam… offer lessons that we would do well to recall today.” (p. 42) Leaving Iraq, though, will be no less messy than was leaving Vietnam. Who could honestly argue that withdrawing from Iraq would not have serious negative consequences? The sober analyst must conclude, though, that the consequences will be no lighter if we stay. It takes a strong person to make such hard choices.

Primarily, my disagreement with Albright is with her sanguine view of religion in general. Yes, it is possible for religion to be peaceful. Yes, it is possible for the devout to understand and tolerate people of other faiths. But human nature contains both the angel and the beast. We are social animals who crave connections to other people, but we also instinctively want to divide “our” people from outsiders. Religion does not have to be dogmatic, but it is easily converted to dogma for those who wish to control the masses. It is that dogmatic nature of religion that the problem, not the irrational beliefs that the believers hold. Albright cites Lenin, Stalin, and Mao Zedong as examples of godless leaders (p 66), but she misses the point. What those leaders have in common is not merely their atheism, but their dogmatic ideology. They share that quality with all the religious oppressors through the centuries.

It is the use of dogma to control populations, not religion per se, that accounts for the atrocities of history. Religion, unfortunately, provides a ready supply of dogma.

I am not naďve enough to believe that religion will disappear. It is attractive even to the well-educated. It is like comfort food for the brain, reminding us of childhood, when we were assured that invisible hands protected us. All the same, there is a reason why church and state are separate in this country. Our public servants must make policy for all of us, not just for those who follow their denomination. Our civilization has had an Enlightenment. Not all parts of the world can claim such an honor. Those parts of the world are becoming more powerful.

The Mighty and the Almighty is a rich, nuanced work filled with wise recommendations. It is enough to make one wish that Madeleine Albright were still Secretary of State.

© 2007 Bryan Lower

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