IOWA CITY — Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, spoke to 13,604 people in the Carver Hawkeye Arena about global security in the 21st Century on Wednesday night.

Clinton’s speech was titled “Embracing Our Humanity: Global Security in the 21st Century.”

“The basic fact of life in the 21st Century world is global interdependence,” Clinton said. “We depend on one another.”

Clinton said interdependence is an important part of peoples’ lives.

“You live in an interdependent world. Look around, this university is more diverse than ever before, and Iowa is a growing state,” he said.

Clinton said although we live in an interdependent world, we should strive for more.

“We cannot be satisfied with an interdependent world, until you have an integrated world. Interdependent simply means that we cannot escape each other,” Clinton said.

Building an integrated world may be complicated, he said.

“How can we go about building an integrated world? Shared resources? Shared values? What could we possibly find in common?” he said. “Diversity makes more interesting life, but common humanity matters more.”

Clinton said there are three strategies, which he had drawn from books, that address the issue of creating an integrated world.

The first he draws from the book “Warrior Politics,” by Robert Kaplan.

He said Kaplan writes people will not cooperate unless they have to.

Clinton sited another book “The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation,” by Matthew Ridley.

“The middle view comes from ‘The Origins of Virtue,'” Clinton said. “The idea behind Ridley’s book is people always cooperate before destroying themselves. Eventually we may get around to it, but someone may have to push us.”

Clinton said the initial step of action is to create an integrated society, but there are also other steps to take into consideration.

“We need security strategies, more [nation allies], but before that we have to develop a mind and heart to create an integrated society,” he said. “There is no them, only us.”

Many people who attended Clinton’s lecture said they were anxious to hear if he addressed the conflict with Iraq.

“I’ve always liked Clinton’s views, and I’m especially interested to see what he has to say about the war,” said Patrick Connolly, senior in business at the University of Iowa. “I bet that he will reformat his speech and bring [the conflict with Iraq] into it.”

Government of the Student Body President T.J. Schneider and several of his cabinet members attended Clinton’s lecture.

“It’s a great opportunity for someone like a past president of the United States to be in the state of Iowa,” Schneider said.

Schneider said Clinton’s address was an opportunity he could not pass up.

“I think what I gained from the talk was just better insight into some of the events that are unfolding in the world today. His discussion was mostly centered around the integrated global society.”