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The End of The Somalia Syndrome

Madeleine Albright is the former US secretary of State. She spoke with NPQ editor Nathan Gardels in Washington on Thursday, Sept. 13.

NPQ | Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that the kind of terrorism that struck New York and Washington is "the battlefield of the future." You said something similar in 1998 when the US embassies were attacked in Kenya and Tanzania by Osama bin Laden's network.

What lessons did you take away from that experience? What are their aims, what is the nature of their network, what are the difficulties in tracking them down and punishing them?

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT | We are being attacked because of who we are. We are global, and we stand for democracy, freedom and an open society. This is the essence of America from which we cannot retreat. Indeed, one of our key responses to deny the terrorists' victory is to not let them shut us down, but to redouble our efforts to invest in this country, to return as soon as we can-and as hard as it is when we think of those directly affected-to normal life.

We learned from the bombings of our embassies that an open society has vulnerabilities that have to be defended on as systematic a basis as possible. How do you balance the fact that an embassy which represents the open society of America abroad with the need to protect our diplomats? This lesson is now writ larger with the attacks on US soil. How do we maintain America's openness and democracy-our greatest source of security-yet endure the physical limitations that will be necessarily required for people's safety?

We learned it is difficult to put the intelligence pieces together and track people down. You have to be systematic, and you have to stay with it. We ultimately brought the terrorists to justice for the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and responded as effectively as we could with military attacks in the Sudan and on Bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan.

The situation now is very different, though: America has been hit on our own soil, and we have lost more people in one day than ever in the history of this country. The battlefield has changed.
It is important for us and our allies to hold those who harbor terrorists responsible for what is going on. This is the time to choose sides.

NPQ | Does this attack mark a shift in American public opinion that ends "the Somalia syndrome" in which the US public was highly reluctant to suffer casualties abroad? After all, thousands of casualties have already been taken in the heart of New York.

ALBRIGHT | It certainly looks that way now. There is a huge outpouring of outrage and patriotism. There is a sense that we have been violated, and we need to defend ourselves.

We were living in an unreal world when we thought we could carry on everything in an antiseptic way without casualties. There has to be a shift here. Innocent people have died.

Our military men and women are very brave. If they have the public's support, they will do what is necessary. The time of antiseptic warfare is over.

NPQ | What are the prospects of building a global coalition against terrorism that stretches from the NATO countries to the moderate Arab states?

ALBRIGHT | This happened to America. If we can't get others to respond with us, though this does not appear to be the case, then we must do it alone. But, ultimately, terrorism cannot be dealt with by one country alone. We need to rededicate ourselves to engagement with the world as part of the strategy to defend ourselves on this new battlefield.

Fortunately, the prospects are better than they've ever been for such a coalition. This act has been so horrendous that it has shocked people across the world. The invocation of Article 5 of NATO is unprecedented. [Note: This clause calls on all members of NATO to respond if any are attacked.] The UN Security Council has passed a strong resolution. There is a much stronger sense of the need to take action internationally than at the time of our embassy bombings in 1998.

As essential as this is, it will become more complicated in the long run as countries come to understand what it means for them-when they understand the costs of solid economic embargoes or of joining military actions. For example, will the Europeans want to be as tough as we want to be on some of these states that harbor terrorists? What about the so-called "moderate" Arab states? How will they deal with us? How will dealing with us affect the relationships of the ruling groups with more militant members of their own societies?

It is very hard to say in this context, but we will also need to get back into the Middle East peace process. Such issues will provoke big internal debates.

In short, it will take a sustained effort by the US to keep such a coalition together. It will take an immense amount of diplomatic work and, as I said, a dedication to engagement with the world.

The US was hit hard. We must respond in a way that is proportionate to what has happened. But it is not necessarily something that has to happen tomorrow. It is more important that it be done effectively and over the long term than it be done quickly.

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