Madeleine Albright

We were taking too much for granted at the end of the Cold War.

We need to make clear that we need to be back, and really do need to make clear in so many ways that we are a leader in restoring and building democracy in other countries.

Backing for democratic values must be the centerpiece of any strategy to create a more secure, stable, healthy and prosperous global environment.

The United States must lead.

The time is right to revive that sense of solidarity.

When it comes to holding fair elections, there is no comparison: denial of the franchise, not deception at the polls, is by far the bigger problem.

You cannot impose democracy. That is an oxymoron.

Elections are necessary, but not sufficient.

They are an adversary, there is no question, militarily in terms of the kinds of things that they are doing in the South and East China Sea and threatening Taiwan.

Building and sustaining democracy should be a first principle, not an afterthought, in U.S. foreign and national security policy.

But in the vast majority of cases, support for democracy serves both our interests and our ideals.

Support for democracy serves both our interests and our ideals.