President Jimmy Carter: There's a lack of peacemakers among world leaders

President Jimmy Carter is one of only four American presidents who have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 2002, the Nobel Committee recognized Carter "for 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."

Carter, who served as 39th president from 1977 until 1981, will be in Minneapolis this weekend to participate in the Nobel Peace Prize Forum.

In an interview with MPR News' Tom Crann, Carter discussed his award and what he sees as a lack of peacemakers in the ranks of world leaders.

"We don't have a global champion of peace like Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King Jr. or Mahatma Gandhi now," he said. "None of the government leaders who represent the five permanent members of the UN Security Council are notable for promoting peace. Among those leaders, I would say that China has been the most reluctant to get involved directly in conflict. I don't think China has been to war in the last 34 years since they made a brief intrusion into Vietnam whereas the United States has been almost constantly at war, except maybe for four years when I was in office."