Who's speaking?

I went up to the U.N. in February 1993, as the ambassador of the United States. Most of the meetings don’t take place in that fancy room but in a room farther back. They’re kind of informal.

I get in there, and I see there are 15 members of the Security Council, and I’m the only woman. Fourteen men from all different parts of the world are sitting there looking at me and I think to myself,

Okay, so, I’ll just see who’s who, and if they like me, and what the mood of the room is.

And all of a sudden I look and I see this sign in front of me that says, “United States.”
I thought to myself,

If I don’t speak today, then the voice of the United States will not be heard.

So I spoke.

                                    Madeline Albright, The Cut