Madeleine K. Albright, 1937-2022
The Aspen Institute New Zealand will dearly miss Secretary Albright for her fortitude, relentless promotion of democracy, and generous support for New Zealand on many fronts.
Our chair and Co-patron, Sir Don McKinnon is an active member of the Aspen Minister’s Forum, chaired by Secretary Albright, fondly known as Madeleine’s dream team,
Co-patron, Helen Clark was honoured to deliver the Madeleine K. Albright Aspen Global Development Lecture speech in 2014 at Aspen, Colorado, and
Secretary Albright championed our admission to the Aspen Institute Network of Partners in April 2019 and said to the Institute’s trustees at the time that …
The people of New Zealand have inspired us all by showing resilience and a commitment to democratic values. No matter its size, New Zealand is now in a world leadership role.
We will remember. Vale Madeleine.
The Aspen Institute Trustee Meeting with Secretary Albright 2019
Reflections from Sir Don McKinnon
From first meeting Madeleine in January 1993 when we were both on the UN Security Council, I knew I was in the presence of a very special person. She had wrapped her huge intellect around all the issues of the day and the ones still emerging. She was a great listener, gave you time to present your case even thinking of different angles to use.
Having established the professional friendship whilst on the Security Council we were all delighted when she became Secretary of State. It was the leadership she provided which led to the best and only possible settlement around the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. She always commended NZ for the very strong stance we took on Rwanda and said years later that the US position was her biggest mistake.
On leaving office she decided that all those she had worked with during the 1990's should stay together as she believed we had so much to offer. Hence the establishment of the Aspen Ministers Forum. With her assistance as an Aspen Institute Trustee, the Aspen Institute became our administrative home.
She would bring us together in some 25 different capitals around the world right up to November 2019 to discuss the contemporary political issues of the day. Not just ourselves but her pulling power brought in high ranking officials from any US government dept, defense, immigration, UN agencies, Academics, writers from all over the world. It was more than social. After three days we often produced opinion pieces, we wrote letters to leaders, and once even Putin responded.
No former foreign minister could have had a better exit from active politics than to be part of the Aspen Ministerial Forum, and there were about 20 of us. Our last full meeting was to be at Georgetown U in Washington DC in March 2020 but along came Covid and we did not. She always encouraged me to set up an Aspen New Zealand, and with the energy of Christine Maiden Sharp and others we did just that. Once Covid had struck and travel restricted we had probably 4-5 zoom meetings as a group, but they weren't the same.
We will all miss her very much, her values, her intellect, her energy, her warmth and sense of humour. For 22 years it was a privilege to be one of Madeleine's Exes.
March 23 2022
Statement from the Institute
The Aspen Institute mourns the passing of Secretary Madeleine K. Albright. A diplomat, professor, author, and business leader, she was the first female US Secretary of State—an iconic fixture in American foreign policy circles with a truly essential voice.
Secretary Albright served on the Aspen Institute Board of Trustees starting in 2002. She founded the Aspen Ministers Forum to strengthen diplomatic ties between the US and Europe that same year and has since expanded the Forum to become a truly global group of ministers. She also helped establish Aspen Central Europe based in Prague in 2012 and was recognized in 2011 as the recipient of the Institute’s Henry Crown Leadership Award.
Secretary Albright leaves an enormous legacy as a longtime champion of freedom, justice, and equity around the world. All of us who had the good fortune and grace to know her, or to be in her presence, understood her to be a warm, caring, and people-centered human being as well as a deeply principled and towering public servant. The entire Aspen Institute community extends to her daughters, family, friends, and all who knew and served with her our heartfelt sympathies and profound gratitude for her decades of leadership.