Opinion - Oct. 15, 2009

Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

President Barack Obama has been declared winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace prize. In essence, the award has been given to him for reducing tensions in the world.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee picked Obama unanimously, saying the award is for what he has done in easing the division between the Western world and the Muslim world and his rejection of America’s proposed anti-missile shield over Europe were two important points in his selection.

Only four U.S. presidents have received the Nobel Peace Prize. Two others were in office at the time. These were Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Former president Jimmy Carter received the award after leaving office.

The award, so soon into Obama’s first months in office, has been criticized as too political. The prize has caused the White House problems, and a debate over the decision is following predictably partisan lines. Obama himself received the news in a low-keyed manner. The fear is that already high expectations for the new president will be raised even higher because of the award.

The perception of President Obama around the world is positive and hopeful. People see him as changing the world and changing the way countries interact and solve problems. Obviously, the perception is based as much on what he has promised as on what he has done. He has been on the national stage for a very short time. His presence on the international stage has been even shorter. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize a mere month after taking office.

The award was based on the belief that Obama has contributed to “a world with less tension,” said the chairman of the Nobel Committee. That, in fact, may be important. The chairman concedes, however, that the world is not safer.

Tension amongst world leaders can complicate and short circuit efforts at peaceful coexistence. That tension, on the other hand, can promote solutions and resolutions.

Obama’s accomplishments and the way in which he shapes and reshapes the world and the geopolitical landscape still remain to be seen. This historic award may make his job easier. It is just as likely that it may make his work harder and his critics more determined.

The fact is that Obama and the nation would have been helped more if the Olympic Committee had given Chicago the 2016 Olympic games instead.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher