Jimmy Carter: US world dominance will not change in our lifetimes

From the former US president's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Norway

The world has changed greatly since I left the White House. Now there is only one superpower, with unprecedented military and economic strength, and our nation's voice most often prevails as decisions are made concerning trade, humanitarian assistance and the allocation of global wealth. This dominant status is unlikely to change in our lifetimes.

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, unrestrained by the Geneva Convention, 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.

Perhaps of more immediate concern is the necessity for Iraq to comply fully with the unanimous decision of the Security Council that it eliminate all weapons of mass destruction and permit unimpeded access by inspectors. The world insists that this be done.

The Nobel prize magnified the inspiring global influence of Martin Luther King Jr, the greatest leader my native state has ever produced. On a personal note, it is unlikely that my political career beyond Georgia would have been possible without the changes brought about by the civil rights movement.

I am not here as a public official, but as a citizen of a troubled world who finds hope in a growing consensus that the generally accepted goals of society are peace, freedom, human rights, environmental quality, the alleviation of suffering and the rule of law.

War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn to live together in peace by killing each other's children.