Condoleezza Rice is coming to Birmingham Monday, May 15th!
ByJHDaniel
Reading time: 4 minutes
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Birmingham’s own Condoleezza Rice will be at Books-A-Million in Brookwood Village on Monday, May 15 to sign copies of her new book on democracy. Important details follow.
“DEMOCRACY: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom“
Best selling author, Dr. Condoleezza Rice has recently released her new book “Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom“. It is a sweeping look at the global struggle for democracy and why America must continue to support the cause of human freedom.
Details
Birminghamians will have the opportunity to meet the legend and receive an autographed copy of her recently published book.
Due to anticipated demand, it highly recommended that you purchase your ticket to the event in advance. Tickets are $34.65 and each ticket includes a copy of Rice’s book. Present your Eventbrite ticket at check-in and you will be added to the signing line, first come first served. Books will be distributed as you approach the signing table. Tickets are available here .
Dr. Rice’ Background
Dr. Condoleezza Rice is best known as the first African-American woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State and the first woman to serve as national security advisor.
Rice, a Birmingham native, was a first-hand witness to the forceful trials of the Civil Rights’ movement. This experience helped shape her role as Secretary of State and her vision for American foreign policy during her tenure from 2005 to 2009.
“… As a child,” Rice writes in her new book, “I was a part of another great awakening: the second founding of America, as the civil rights movement unfolded in my hometown of Birmingham, Ala., and finally expanded the meaning of ‘We the people’ to encompass people like me. … There is no more thrilling moment than when people finally seize their rights and their liberty.”
Dr. Rice has served on the front lines of history, from the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union to the ongoing struggle for human rights in the Middle East. Dr. Rice’s new book is a powerful tool that shows us what these epochal events can teach us about democracy.
At a time when people around the world are wondering whether democracy is in decline, Rice shares insights from her experiences as a policymaker, scholar and citizen, putting democracy’s challenges into perspective.
World View
Using America’s long and tumultuous struggle as a template, Rice draws comparisons for democracy from around the world. Whether it’s Russia, Poland and Ukraine, to Kenya, Colombia, and the Middle East, she finds that no transition to democracy is the same. Pathways diverge, time frames vary and countries often suffer false starts. But, Rice argues that the outcome is worth the effort. The question is not how to create perfect circumstances, but how to move forward under difficult ones.
The pursuit of democracy is a shared struggle by people around the world, and Rice is candid about the restless process, from costly mistakes made in Iraq to the failures of the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine. She singles out the 2006 Palestinian elections that she and her team were confident Hamas would lose, as they pushed Palestinians to conduct them and the Israelis to support. That unexpected Hamas win still complicates Middle Eastern peace talks today.
She also writes of the setbacks in Egypt and Turkey, along with Libya’s failure to build a government after the overthrow of Qaddafi. Rice maintains that failures like these are difficult when it comes to promoting democracy, but they must be endured. As for America’s long term foreign policy goals, promoting democracy is a stronghold of American security.
About Condoleezza Rice
Dr. Rice is the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution,
and a professor of political science at Stanford University.
Book Order
If you are unable to attend the event, or would like extra copies, you can order “Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom” through the Books-A-Million website at booksamillion.com.
For more information please contact the Brookwood Village Books-A-Million on 205-870-0213.
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