[00:13.43]Your Majesties, Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
[00:22.02]It is with a deep sense of gratitude that I accept this prize.
[00:27.23]I am grateful to my wife Rosalynn, to my colleagues at the Carter Center,
[00:31.66]and to many others who continue to seek an end to violence and suffering throughout the world.
[00:37.89]Most Nobel laureates have carried out our work in safety,
[00:41.86]but there are others who have acted with great personal courage.
[00:46.93]None has provided more vivid reminders of the dangers of peacemaking than two of my friends,
[00:52.90]Anwar Sadat and Yitzak Rabin, who gave their lives for the cause of peace in the Middle East.
[00:59.74]Like these two heroes, my first chosen career was in the military,
[01:04.54]as a submarine officer. My shipmates and I realized that we had to be ready to fight if combat was forced upon us,
[01:13.51]and we were prepared to give our lives to defend our nation and its principles.
[01:19.33]At the same time, we always prayed fervently that our readiness would ensure that there would be no war.
[01:27.44]Later, as President and as CommanderinChief of our armed forces,
[01:32.12]I was one of those who bore the sobering responsibility of maintaining global stability during the height of the Cold War,
[01:40.64]as the world’s two superpowers confronted each other.
[01:44.50]The world has changed greatly since I left the White House.
[01:48.46]Now there is only one superpower, with unprecedented military and economic strength.
[01:55.21]The coming budget for American armaments will be greater than those of the next fifteen nations combined,
[02:01.91]and there are troops from the United States in many countries throughout the world.
[02:07.11]But instead of entering a millennium of peace, the world is now,
[02:11.35]in many ways, a more dangerous place.
[02:15.18]The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.
[02:23.34]There is a plethora of civil wars, within which an overwhelming portion of the casualties are unarmed civilians
[02:30.84]who have no ability to defend themselves. And recent appalling acts of terrorism have reminded us that no nations,
[02:39.77]even superpowers, are invulnerable.
[02:42.95]It is clear that global challenges must be met with an emphasis on peace, in harmony with others,
[02:49.78]with strong alliances and international consensus. Imperfect as it may be,
[02:55.62]there is no doubt that this can best be done through the United Nations.
[03:01.57]We must remember that today there are at least eight nuclear powers on earth,
[03:07.93]and three of them are threatening to their neighbors in areas of great international tension.
[03:13.54]For powerful countries to adopt a principle of preventive war may well set an example
[03:20.74]that can have catastrophic consequences.
[03:25.45]If we accept the premise that the United Nations is the best avenue for the maintenance of peace,
[03:33.03]then the carefully considered decisions of the United Nations Security Council must be enforced.
[03:39.90]All too often, the alternative has proven to be uncontrollable violence and expanding spheres of hostility.(To be continued)
