Undying commitment to human rights

In December 1978, Jimmy Carter—who has died aged 100—outlined his belief that American strategic decisions abroad should be shaped by an adherence to human rights.

- RICHARD HARGY

"Human rights is the soul of our foreign policy…because human rights is the soul of our sense of nationhood."

In the sphere of foreign affairs, Jimmy Carter's one term as US president (1977-1981) had some notable achievements. The most significant was the 1978 Camp David Accords. Carter, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signed an agreement that saw Begin agree to relinquish the entire Sinai Peninsula, captured by Israel in the 1967 six-day war, in exchange for peace and full diplomatic relations with Egypt.

This exemplified Carter's belief in the power of American diplomacy and why US presidents should courageously assume the difficult task of peace-making.

Twenty-five years later, and against the backdrop of the build-up to the second Gulf War, Carter was recognised for his role in the accords and awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee said that while President George W. Bush was planning an invasion of Iraq: "former President Jimmy Carter was awarded the Peace Prize for undertaking peace negotiations, campaigning for human rights, and working for social welfare".

They added that the prize was in recognition of "his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development".