Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) acknowledged Monday having anxieties about her high-profile trips to Ukraine and Taiwan.

Stressing that she embarked on both trips because she was invited, Pelosi said she feared she could die during the visit to Ukraine last year and recounted sleepless nights ahead of her trip to Taiwan. Her remarks came during a conversation with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at an event hosted by Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.

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"I went to both of those places because I was invited to go. I was invited to go early to see what was happening in Ukraine. And to tell you the honest truth, it was pretty scary," Pelosi recalled. "Without going into the details of the logistics and all of that, I thought we could possibly die. But it's for democracy because these people are fighting for democracy."

Pelosi, 83, highlighted the brutality of the invasion of Ukraine, including the alleged raping of women and abduction of children by Russian soldiers. Despite describing the journey as "pretty scary," Pelosi also emphasized that "it was so inspiring" and that "President Zelensky is so courageous."

Following that venture, Pelosi made the trek to Taiwan, an island embroiled in a multidecade dispute with China, which claims sovereignty over it. Beijing's "One China" principle is the foundation of its foreign policy, including its relations with the United States.

Despite wanting to work with China on matters such as human rights, trade, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Pelosi was keen on taking the trip to Taiwan. She also appeared to declare Taiwan a "country" during the conversation with Clinton.

"From an intelligence standpoint, they told me to stop reading it at night, Hillary, because it was keeping me up," Pelosi said. "I wasn't there to go against China. I was there to support Taiwan. I was not going to have the president of China say, 'Oh, let's isolate Taiwan, and we'll keep you from going there,' a democratic country, thriving democracy, and economy."

China denounced Pelosi's visit and showed its military might in response to the trip.

Prior to the discussion, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger and SIPA Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo lavished praise on Clinton and Pelosi.

"These are two people who have literally lived inside our consciousness during an era of immense risk to our political, legal, and social systems," Bollinger exulted. "Strong, intelligent, sane, wise, and caring voices are in very short supply these last many years. And from my point of view, these are two of our nation's and our world's best."

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Clinton is slated to teach a course titled "Inside the Situation Room" next fall, assessing the various decision-making processes behind key events, such as negotiations with Iran, the "red line" in Syria," and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, according to a press release from Columbia. Last month, the institution released a tongue-in-cheek promo teasing the course.

The interview Monday was the first in a series by SIPA featuring in-depth discussions about pressing matters with top former officials "as they close one chapter in their career and look towards the next," according to Yarhi-Milo.