SUNDANCE — President Bush's selection of Robert Gates to replace Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense will not solve all of the problems in Iraq, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said.

"I think it's nice, but that's not the issue," Albright said Sunday at Robert Redford's Sundance resort. "Policy has to change, not the people."

Albright discussed politics and religion Sunday night at the Sundance Summit, a conference for mayors and their staffs from across the United States that will continue through Tuesday.

Albright was secretary of state under President Bill Clinton, the first woman to serve in the post. Before that, she represented the United States in the United Nations. She now teaches at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and recently wrote a book about religion and politics, "The Mighty and the Almighty."

In a 45-minute question-and-answer session led by public radio host Doug Fabrizio, Albright made a prediction about Iraq she said she hopes is incorrect: "I'm afraid Iraq is going to go down in history as the greatest disaster in foreign policy."

The Viet- nam con- flict was devastating in the number of American lives lost, but the invasion of Iraq could have implications for other parts of the Middle East, she said.

Albright believes that last week's elections, in which Democrats captured majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate, will empower a bipartisan panel of political leaders studying Iraq including former Secretary of State James Baker.

"I think there is going to be a lot of looking at the suggestions coming from Jim Baker," Albright said.

Baker has been advocating for talking with enemies such as Iran and North Korea, and Albright agrees.

"And talking is not appeasement," she said.

As for the environment, Albright believes the United States should be involved in efforts to stop or reverse global warming because the atmosphere knows no boundaries, she said.

But she believes the United States lost moral authority on the environment by not signing the Kyoto Treaty, which seeks for industrialized countries to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses emissions by about 5 percent from 1990 levels.

Albright suggested the mayors work with their international sister cities on reducing emissions.

---

E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com