The world has changed greatly since I left the White House.

Now there is only one superpower, with unprecedented military and economic strength. The coming budget for American armaments will be greater than those of the next 15 nations combined, and there are troops from the United States in many countries throughout the world. Our gross national economy exceeds that of the three countries that follow us, and our nation's voice most often prevails as decisions are made concerning trade, humanitarian assistance and the allocation of global wealth.

This dominant status is unlikely to change in our lifetimes.

Great American power and responsibility are not unprecedented, and have been used with restraint and widespread benefit in the past. . . .

Twelve years ago, President Mikhail Gorbachev received your recognition for his pre-eminent role in ending the cold war that had lasted 50 years. But instead of entering a millennium of peace, the world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place.

The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect. There is a plethora of civil wars, unrestrained by rules of the Geneva Convention, within which an overwhelming portion of the casualties are unarmed civilians who have no ability to defend themselves. And recent appalling acts of terrorism have reminded us that no nations, even superpowers, are invulnerable.

It is clear that global challenges must be met by an emphasis on peace, in harmony with others, with strong alliances and international consensus. Imperfect as it may be, there is no doubt that this can best be done through the United Nations. . . .

For powerful countries to adopt a principle of preventive war may well set an example that can have catastrophic consequences.

If we accept the premise that the United Nations is the best avenue for the maintenance of peace, then the carefully considered decisions of the U.N. Security Council must be enforced. All too often, the alternative has proven to be uncontrollable violence and expanding spheres of hostility.

The most vivid example is that, for more than half a century, following the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, the Middle East conflict has been a source of worldwide tension and conflict itself. . . .

Perhaps of more immediate concern is the necessity for Iraq to comply fully with the unanimous decision of the Security Council that it eliminate all weapons of mass destruction and permit unimpeded access by inspectors to confirm that this commitment has been honored. The world insists that this be done.

I am not here as a public official, but as a citizen of a troubled world who finds hope in a growing consensus that the generally accepted goals of society are peace, freedom, human rights, environmental quality, the alleviation of suffering and the rule of law. During the past decades the international community, usually under the auspices of the United Nations, has struggled to negotiate global agreements that can help us achieve these essential goals.

They include the abolition of land mines and chemical weapons; an end to the testing, proliferation and further deployment of nuclear warheads; constraints on global warming; prohibition of the death penalty, at least for children; and an international criminal court to deter and to punish war crimes and genocide.

Those agreements already adopted must be fully implemented, and others should be pursued aggressively.

We must also strive to correct the injustice of economic sanctions that seek to penalize abusive leaders but all too often inflict punishment on those who are already suffering from the abuse. . . .

War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.

The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us a capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes Ñ and we must.