In an interview with the Aspen Institute, Former President Jimmy Carter outlines his view of what America's priorities should be and then contrasts with an America that has fallen far off track from its ideals, "the most war-like country on Earth," a "laggard" on addressing climate change, and "now violating about ten of the thirty paragraphs in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."





JIMMY CARTER: This may not be the best thing to say to a group of Americans, but I think the historical trend is for the U.S. to relinquish its unquestioned domination of the world's politics and economy and cultural influence.



[sporadic applause]



I think it can be a good thing. Because I believe that the so-called BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), China is rising, Russia is going to come back, and other countries also, Brazil and India are increasing their influence compared with ten years ago. I can't say that I could blame President Obama for it, it is a inevitability.



And now the thing to do for President Obama and the next president is to say, how can the U.S. fit in and still accomplish our goals of promoting the elements of a superpower, and what are the elements of the superpower, this is maybe preaching a bit, but a superpower should not only be the top country in terms of military power, that we are going to continue to be, but the American superpower goal should be to be the champion of peace. And to be the champion of human rights and the champion of the environment. And to be the most generous nation on earth, those are the elements that I hope eventually the U.S. will set as goals.



We are the most warlike country on earth, we are a laggard in addressing the problem of global warming for instance, and we are now violating about ten of the thirty paragraphs in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is something we should look upon as opportunities or duties for the future.

The full conversation with President Carter: