Debate featuring Madeleine Albright

On April 24, 2008 in the Auditorium Maximum a debate was held on values in international politics. The featured speaker was Madeleine Albright, who from 1997 to 2001 was the 64th Secretary of State of the United States.

Madame Albright was the first woman to hold that post. She was born in Prague, and this explains her special tie to Central and Eastern Europe. Nor did she conceal that fact during the debate, one she commenced by saying, "Dzień dobry. Cieszę się, że tu jestem" - 'A good day to all. I'm pleased to be here'. The rest of her remarks - delivered in English - were focused foremost on relations between European countries and the United States. She stressed that, despite the fact that many seem to believe that America is from Mars, and Europe from Venus, "relations between those two gods were very fruitful - although at times fiery. And after all, one of their offspring was Harmony". Another of the debate's participants was Professor Bronisław Geremek, Poland's Minister for Foreign Affairs 1997-2000; Paweł Kował, Poland's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2006-07, and Aleksander Smolar, President of the Stefan Batory Foundation. The debate was conducted by Professors Marcin Król and Krzysztof Michałski of the Institute for Applied Social Sciences. This gathering was held as the 13th "Tischner Debate", organized by the University of Warsaw and the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna.