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The auditorium of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota was packed. There wasn’t a seat left in the room. Condoleeza Rice was in town.

As part of the Ringling College Library Association Lecture Series, the former US Secretary of the State under the Bush administration came to address several contemporary issues on Monday.

One of the main items on her agenda was the “War on Terror.” Referring to the most recent terrorist attack on the Delaware bound Northwest Airlines Flight on Christmas Day, Rice said, “ I am not surprised.”

“ Each and every day terrorists plot to attack the United States.”   And the biggest threat to the United States, she said, is Afghanistan.

As the 5th poorest country in the world and controlled by Al Qaeda, Rice described Afghanistan as the “quintessential failed state.”   She said America remains protected against the country because of the men and women that “put their lives on the front line to defend freedom.“ And the only way to continue to protect the United States is to send more forces over to Afghanistan.

Rice stressed sending more troops over will help “fight counter insurgency and heal the people.” America needs to step in and give the people in Afghanistan a better life, she added,  so that they won’t support terrorists. And she insisted that American forces can eventually initiate the forming of a democratic government there. Even though many Americans cannot picture Afghanistan becoming a democratic country, the former Secretary of State says the U.S still needs to fight for the people’s right to freedom.

Rice said the beauty of democracy is that even though “it is big and messy,  if the people in office aren’t liked, they can be thrown out.” The people in Afghanistan do not have that option right now.

Speaking theoretically, she said ask the people in Afghanistan or the “tough guys” in Iraq if they want democracy and “universally everyone will say yes."

Iran and North Korea, on the other hand, Rice views as much lesser threats to American security.  She said that North Korea produces nuclear weapons, yet its biggest fault is not its intent to use them, but rather that it transfers its weapons to dangerous hands.

Back in May 2009, North Korea had threatened to attack if ships from the North were searched as part a U.S.-led effort to stop vessels suspected of carrying missiles or weapons of mass destruction. It also declared that the truce that ended the Korean War in 1953 was no longer valid. The threat came two days after the communist state was condemned by the international community, including longtime allies China and Russia, for testing a second nuclear device in violation of U.N. resolutions.

The move pushed South Korea to join the Proliferation Security initiative which was created in 2003 by President George W. Bush and continued by the Obama administration. It includes more than 90 countries that have agreed to share intelligence on suspicious cargo ships.

Rice confidently said, “North Korea has a crazy, not suicidal leadership. It won‘t bomb South Korea.”

Iran is one of those countries seeking to obtain a nuclear weapon. Rice said Iran, similar to Afghanistan, is a failing country. “The poster child for terrorism abroad.”

Yet, unlike Afghanistan, it does not have as much support from the Iranian people. More than 70 percent of the Iranian population is under 30 years old. And the death of one of their own, Neda, a 16 year old Iranian girl, apparently by a terrorist group in June 2009 became a symbol for Iranian pro-democracy demonstrations. The  regime has been under threat of being overthrown by the people after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a huge landslide in the June 12 election, sparking accusations of vote rigging and days of mass protests.

Rice describes the Iranian government as a “shell.” Once the regime changes she says, the cries for democracy will be met and Iran will no longer be a threat.

Finally, Rice addressed another great threat to America- the economy. “These days it is fashionable to speak about the death of American capitalism.” Many people talk about China replacing the United States position of economic superiority, yet  Rice does not believe that will be the case.

Preaching the praises of the United States she said, “ This nation thrives on creativity, risk taking and innovation…the United States is special.” Referencing the struggles of the US during the Revolutionary War, Rice said America was never supposed to beat England, the greatest power in the world at the time, but it did.  It overcame then and it will overcome now.

Have grown significantly since 1990, Rice described China as  a “miracle economy.” Yet, she does not feel it can surpass its current success. “China is afraid of the internet. It is afraid of information and its people getting that information….you can’t ask people to think at work and not at home…it just doesn’t make sense.”

Rice followed the lecture with a session of questions and answers. And when asked if she speaks to current Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and gives her advice,  Rice said she vowed not to.

“ I  promised to remain loyal and silent.” She knows how easy it is to give your opinion when your on the outside (of Washington) because “it always seems easier on the outside.”

She is now a professor of International Studies at Stanford University.