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Your Majesties, Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is with a deep sense of gratitude that I accept this prize.I am grateful to my wife Rosalynn, to my colleagues at the Carter Center,and to many others who continue to seek an end to violence and suffering throughout the world.
Most Nobel laureates have carried out our work in safety,but there are others who have acted with great personal courage.None has provided more vivid reminders of the dangers of peacemaking than two of my friends,Anwar Sadat and Yitzak Rabin, who gave their lives for the cause of peace in the Middle East.
Like these two heroes, my first chosen career was in the military,as a submarine officer. My shipmates andI realized that we had to be ready to fight if combat was forced upon us,and we were prepared to give our lives to defend our nation and its principles.At the same time, we always prayed fervently that our readiness would ensure that there would be no war.
Later, as President and as Commander in Chief of our armed forces,I was one of those who bore the soberingresponsibility of maintaining global stability during the height of the Cold War,as the world’s two superpowers confronted each other.
The world has changed greatly since I left the White House.Now there is only one superpower, with unprecedented military and economic strength.The coming budget for American armaments will be greater than those of the next fifteen nations combined,and there are troops from the United States in many countries throughout the world.
But instead of entering a millennium of peace, the world is now,in many ways, a more dangerous place.The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.There is a plethora of civil wars, within which an overwhelming portion of the casualties are unarmed civilians who have no ability to defend themselves. And recent appalling acts of terrorism have reminded us that no nations,even superpowers, are invulnerable.
It is clear that global challenges must be met with an emphasis on peace, in harmony with others,with strong alliances and international consensus. Imperfect as it may be,there is no doubt that this can best be done through the United Nations.
We must remember that today there are at least eight nuclear powers on earth,
and three of them are threatening to their neighbors in areas of great international tension.For powerful countries to adopt a principle of preventive war may well set an examplethat can have catastrophic consequences.
If we accept the premise that the United Nations is the best avenue for the maintenance of peace, then thecarefully considered decisions of the United Nations Security Council must be enforced. All too often, thealternative has proven to be uncontrollable violence and expanding spheres of hostility.(To be continued)
