President Barack Obama Awarded Nobel Peace Prize

As I contemplate this award to Obama based on a nomination made about a week and a half into his presidency, I can already hear the media chorus of "unpatriotic" and "opposing Obama at all costs in all regards." From my perspective, it's hard to ignore the fact that the last American president to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, which was an implicit nod to his contributions in opposing the Bush administration's war effort. In the language of the award, the Nobel Committee recognized President Obama for taking the US in a new direction. From Reuter's Global News Blog.

"Without naming Obama's predecessor George W. Bush, it highlighted the differences in America's engagement with the rest of the world since the change of administration in January.

"Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play.

"Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts," it said, and the United States was playing a more constructive role in tackling climate change."

The Nobel Committee made a similar gesture when it selected President Jimmy Carter in 2002, as CNN reported in their dispatch.

"The announcement of the award came only hours after the U.S. House and Senate gave President George W. Bush authorization to use military force against Iraq in order to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions requiring that Baghdad give up weapons of mass destruction.

In an interview with CNN, Carter declined to address the situation with Iraq, saying instead he would rather focus on the peace prize.

Asked if the selection of the former president was a criticism of Bush, Gunnar Berge, head of the Nobel committee, said: "With the position Carter has taken on this, it can and must also be seen as criticism of the line the current U.S. administration has taken on Iraq.""

It would seem, then, that the US truly is finally on the path to being respected and liked, really liked by the international community (the IOC notwithstanding). Well, at least most of the European Community; here's the opinion from the Times (UK) Online.

"Rarely has an award had such an obvious political and partisan intent. It was clearly seen by the Norwegian Nobel committee as a way of expressing European gratitude for an end to the Bush Administration, approval for the election of America's first black president and hope that Washington will honour its promise to re-engage with the world.

Instead, the prize risks looking preposterous in its claims, patronising in its intentions and demeaning in its attempt to build up a man who has barely begun his period in office, let alone achieved any tangible outcome for peace.

The pretext for the prize was Mr Obama's decision to "strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples". Many people will point out that, while the President has indeed promised to "reset" relations with Russia and offer a fresh start to relations with the Muslim world, there is little so far to show for his fine words."

The Wall Street Journal highlights similar concerns from Norway and from previous Nobel Laurates.

""So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far," former Polish President Lech Walesa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, said Friday. "He is still at an early stage."

Even in Norway, where Mr. Obama enjoys huge popularity, the decision raised eyebrows among some. "It is just too soon," said Siv Jensen, leader of Norway's main opposition party, the Progress Party. "It is wrong to give him the peace prize for his ambition. You should receive it for results."

She said that the decision to bestow the award on the president was the most controversial she could remember and was one of a number that had moved the prize further away from the ideals of Alfred Nobel.

Others made the same point in somewhat more diplomatic language. Amnesty International, which won the peace prize in 1977, congratulated Mr. Obama but said he couldn't stop there. "President Obama has taken some positive steps towards improving human rights in the U.S.A. and abroad, but much remains to be done," said Irene Kahn, Amnesty's secretary general."

It's good that President Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize; it's a feather in our collective caps, and an indication that a part of the European community does recognize the election of President Obama as a positive move toward "reconcilliation" with the international community. The question lingers at the end of the night, though, "what does that mean to us as a nation, and what are the implications of awarding a wartime president the Nobel Peace Prize?"

Enjoy the party, Mr. President, but don't forget that tomorrow is a work day.