The Woman who Championed the expansion of NATO and was the first woman US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, has died aged 84.
She pushed for the alliance to intervene in the Balkans to stop genocide and ethnic cleansing, sought to reduce the spread of nuclear weapons, and championed human rights and democracy across the globe.
The news of her death comes as NATO leaders, including US President Joe Biden, are preparing to meet Thursday in Brussels for a summit on Russia’s invasion Of Ukraine.
Albright’s death was confirmed in an email to staff of the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm founded by her.
Albright was a central figure in President Bill Clinton’s administration, first serving as US ambassador to the United Nations before becoming the nation’s top diplomat in his second term.
In a New York Times op-ed, written last month just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Albright argued that Russian leader Vladimir Putin would be making “a historic error” in invading Ukraine and warned of devastating costs to his country.
