May 14, 2002 - In a speech given in Cuba, Carter outlines his vision for improvement between the U.S. and Cuba regarding their trading relations. The speech was broadcast live and uncensored on Cuban state television.

October 11, 2002 - Wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

February 19, 2005 - The U.S.S. Jimmy Carter (SSN 23) is commissioned.

February 11, 2007 - Wins a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for the audio book of "Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis." He shares the award with Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis.

April 17, 2008 - Meets with Hamas leaders in Cairo, Egypt. U.S. and Israeli government officials' object to Carter's meeting, as both governments classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.

September 15, 2009 - Carter causes controversy with remarks on NBC Nightly News about President Barack Obama. Carter says, "An overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American."

August 27, 2010 - Carter negotiates the release of U.S. citizen Aijalon Mahli Gomes. Gomes is imprisoned in North Korea after entering it illegally in January 2010. He is later sentenced to eight years of hard labor, and is fined about $600,000. "At the request of President Carter, and for humanitarian purposes, Mr. Gomes was granted amnesty by the chairman of the National Defense Commission, Kim Jong-Il," the Carter Center says in a statement.

March 28, 2011 - Carter arrives in Cuba for a three-day visit, to meet with President Raul Castro.

April 26, 2011 - Visits Pyongyang, North Korea for talks to ease tensions between North and South Korea, accompanied by three other former heads of states, former Finnish President Marti Ahtisaari, former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, and former Irish President Mary Robinson. This group is collectively known as "The Elders".

May 4, 2011 - Through a Washington Post opinion piece, Carter urges the support of the Hamas-Fatah unity government.

June 26, 2012 - Through a New York Times opinion piece, Carter says that the United States is no longer a champion of human rights in light of recent legislative action and drone strikes.