"Ultimately, the work of The Carter Center is about helping people achieve better opportunities and watching hope take root where it languished before." - Jimmy Carter

Many of today’s most pressing global issues— energy, the Middle East, and global health concerns—define President Carter’s place in presidential history and continue to shape his influential role as a global leader and elder. 

• Global economy: President Carter worked hard to combat domestic inflation and unemployment at a time when global oil prices had reached record highs and to enhance energy security through conservation and alternative energy sources.

• Foreign policy: President Carter placed human rights at the center of his foreign policy and has continued to play a pivotal role in advancing global human rights standards during his post-presidency. The foreign policy issues of his time in the White House—peace in the Middle East, sovereignty in Afghanistan, relations with Moscow—echo in current day foreign policy challenges faced by President Obama.

• Global health: Through the work of The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, President Carter has made the eradication of Guinea worm disease, river blindness, malaria, and other diseases a priority.  President Carter has traveled with former Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Bill Gates, Sr. on a journey through Africa to see firsthand the impact of HIV/AIDS.

• Diplomacy & conflict resolution: Representing The Carter Center, President Carter has served as a lead diplomat in negotiations with North Korea, Middle Eastern nations, various African countries, and Haiti and other countries in the Americas. His family has a long history with a leading citizen diplomacy initiative, the Peace Corps, starting with President Carter’s mother serving at age 70 in India and his grandson serving in South Africa.  

Through The Carter Center and his books, President Carter challenges us to think about our place in the world and the role that citizen diplomacy plays in building peace globally. On January 31, the World Affairs Council, in celebration of its 60th Anniversary, invites greater Seattle to participate in a conversation with President Jimmy Carter; the evening will include discussion on the work of The Carter Center and some of the world’s most pressing, yet solvable problems.

 To find out more about the World Affairs Council's 60th Anniversary celebration, please visit http://www.world-affairs.org/at60.