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. “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.
