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The phrase "think globally, act locally" is often used to define the role of a global citizen. But when I heard Guyana President Cheddi Jagan say recently that this was a premise of the new national development strategy being drafted in his country, I was reminded of just how big an impact one phrase can have.

Atlanta's role as host to the 1996 Centennial Olympics has renewed public consciousness, and debate, about what it means to be a truly "international" city. If global citizenship is a measure of international stature, surely Atlanta has earned that designation. Organizations such as CNN, UPS, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, and CARE have been active around the world for decades.

Global citizenship is also measured by a generosity of spirit, or willingness to risk one's own reputation, for the sake of a potential gain that might benefit others. Indeed, there are many stumbling blocks on the road to resolving any of the world's most intractable problems, including ethnic conflicts that have lasted generations, disagreements between environmental groups and industry on the best use of a nation's natural resources, or the struggles of opposition voices to be heard in new democracies. There can be many failures before there is one success.

At The Carter Center, we believe that being a good global citizen has as much to do with how we offer our assistance as it does with the potential benefit itself. From helping Ethiopia establish standards for human rights to teaching farmers how to increase grain production in Ghana to providing the knowledge to eradicate Guinea worm disease in Africa--our approach is to take the back seat to a country's own citizens, to assist, to advise, to train others. Only by taking responsibility for a program can a country's people attain the confidence and skills necessary to sustain it, leading to eventual self-sufficiency and permanent solutions. We must think globally, but ultimately, all action is local.

Having undertaken projects in at least 65 countries to date, the Center has learned that respecting the perspectives of other cultures, and acknowledging that a country's citizens are the best experts on their own lives, builds the trust that unlocks the door to communication and resolution of problems. We have learned this approach works at home as well as overseas.

Sometimes you have to travel a long way to gain a better perspective on your own backyard. After years of working to improve life abroad, Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, returned from a trip one day to say "we could use these same principles to make life better in Atlanta." So in late 1991, they founded The Atlanta Project to help the city's poorer communities gain access to the resources they need to solve the problems that most concern them.

Whether the borders that divide us are picket fences or national boundaries, we are all neighbors in a global community. With the 1996 Olympics off and running, now is a good time to remind ourselves of the many opportunities and responsibilities we all have to make a difference not only as residents of our neighborhoods but as citizens of the world.