Mexico Drug Violence Becoming America's Concern, Says Rice October 21, 2010

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2010/10/18/Condoleezza_Rice_Extraordinary_Ordinary_People

In addition to ongoing concerns over Iraq and Afghanistan, argues former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, America should be wary of instability in a closer neighbor -- Mexico. Escalating drug violence threatens to increasingly destabilize the country's government, she explains, warning that some areas of northern Mexico already resemble a failed state.

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In her first public appearance since the publication of her new family memoir, Secretary Rice provides a rare glimpse at the experiences that have shaped her world outlook and discusses her views on current issues. Rice details her remarkable childhood, which began in the late 1950s, when Birmingham blacks lived in segregation, and continued through the '60s, when Rice saw her girlhood friends lose their lives to the bloodshed of the era. Rice was the 66th U.S. secretary of state and the first black woman to hold that office. She talks about the people and experiences that have guided her on her path to occupying one of the nation's highest offices. Prior to serving as secretary of state, she was the first woman ever to serve as national security advisor, was provost of Stanford from 1993 to 1999, and served as the Soviet and East European Affairs advisor during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. - Commonnwealth Club of California

Dr. Condoleezza Rice became Secretary of State on January 26, 2005. Prior to this, she was the assistant to the president for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor, since January, 2001.

In June 1999, she completed a six-year tenure as Stanford University's Provost, during which she was the institution's chief budget and academic officer. As provost, she was responsible for a $1.5 billion annual budget and the academic program involving 1,400 faculty members and 14,000 students.

Rice is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been awarded honorary doctorates from Morehouse College in 1991, the University of Alabama in 1994, the University of Notre Dame in 1995, the National Defense University in 2002, the Mississippi College School of Law in 2003, the University of Louisville and Michigan State University in 2004. She resides in Washington, D.C.