Quoting American greats like Teddy Roosevelt and Bart Simpson, a Nobel laureate said Tuesday that the United States is both the world's mayor and its police chief.

As such, said F.W. de Klerk, this country's unprecedented military might can't be leaned on for everything.

"The United States, in its global leadership role, should also consider the necessity of speaking softly, which is not the equivalent of being weak," said de Klerk, using Roosevelt's famous "big stick" adage.

The former South African president, who freed Nelson Mandela from prison and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 with Mandela for his role in ending apartheid, spoke at BYU on Tuesday. "Nothing could appear to be more secure and more American than Utah, protected by the ramparts of the Rocky Mountains."

His speech focused on the global role of the United States. As the last remaining superpower, this country's decisions will always be a point of heated debate.

"The price of preeminence, ladies and gentlemen, is and always will be unpopularity," said de Klerk, who quoted Bart Simpson's utterance: "You're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't."

Poverty

De Klerk said rich countries have an obligation to aid the world's 41 poorest countries, 34 of which are in Africa. He cited figures showing that First World countries spend $280 billion per year on subsidies to their own farmers but only $56 billion on foreign aid. By subsidizing their own farmers, wealthy countries also destroy the one trade option poor countries have: agriculture.

"Some will argue, yes, there has been progress," he said. "But fact is, the number of people living below the poverty line has stayed about the same at 2 billion."

Environment

"Whether we live in the first world or the third world, we also share the same fragile global environment," de Klerk said.

Violence

"At the end of the day, it cannot create lasting solutions," de Klerk said of military action. "It is much easier to start wars than to end them."

The hardest part about ending violence is getting warring parties to think like their opposition. It's what he forced himself to do during the "dreadful period" when South Africa was tearing itself apart with apartheid. Both sides will have to take risks and make painful compromises, he said.

Democracy

The U.S. shouldn't be overly concerned with accusations from "liberal democracies" where the nanny state rules and bureaucracies ensnare. Instead the country should focus on nurturing its ideals of personal, economic and religious freedom.

The world recognizes the sway of the United State so much so that they are intensely interested in the current presidential campaign and "feel they should also have the vote."

He says the United States is different from ancient Rome and other dynasties that have since vanished from the Earth because the country has resisted empire building.

"I have no doubt it can succeed in carrying out its historical global leadership role," he said.