6 Jimmy Carter Quotes on Foreign policy

Jimmy Carter quotes on foreign policy

6. But I want to stress again that human rights are not peripheral to the foreign policy of the United States. Our pursuit of human rights is part of a broad effort to use our great power and our tremendous influence in the service of creating a better world, a world in which human beings can live in peace, in freedom, and with their basic needs adequately met.

7. Human rights is the soul of our foreign policy, because human rights is the very soul of our sense of nationhood.

10. Iraq is an unjust war. (spoken on the Diane Rehm Show; stated in articles written for NY Times; printed in USA Today)

12. We are completely in bed with the Israelis to the detriment of the wellbeing of the Palestinians. (spoken on the Diane Rehm Show.)

20. 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. Our gross national economy exceeds that of the three countries that follow us, 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. Great American power and responsibility are not unprecedented, and have been used with restraint and great benefit in the past. We have not assumed that super strength guarantees super wisdom, and we have consistently reached out to the international community to ensure that our own power and influence are tempered by the best common judgment. Within our country, ultimate decisions are made through democratic means, which tend to moderate radical or ill-advised proposals. Constrained and inspired by historic constitutional principles, our nation has endeavored for more than two hundred years to follow the now almost universal ideals of freedom, human rights, and justice for all.

44. The best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation.