The question that's on the mind of many at the moment is whether President Barack Obama truly deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. He was nominated just two weeks in office and took the award just nine months later in what has been dubbed as a "shock announcement". As with all things that get the sentiments flowing we bring out the 'expert' in us and hear all sorts of opinions.
It seems to me that both those in favor of handing out this prestigious award to Obama and those against make valid claims. Obama has, in my opinion, certainly made great efforts to instill a sense of hope and good feeling both for America and the rest of the world in general. His mission for nuclear disarmament, his reaching out to the Muslim world, his quest for making the world a better place is commendable and cannot simply dismissed as rhetoric.
On the other hand there is much truth in the saying that actions speak louder than words. Obama can never achieve peace in the Middle East for example if he continues to be bullied by lobbyists whose sole interest is that of seeking a Zionist agenda for Israel. He was too soft with Netanyahu and to this very day many Palestinians are systematically kicked out of their homes to make way for Jewish families. Another conundrum is the fact that conflict is still the status quo in the troubled region of Afghanistan and conflict is the opposite of peace. But what is to be done in such situations? Would it be responsible or moral to abandon Afghanistan and leave it to its fate?
I believe that Obama is definitely peace prize material. The potential is there. Having said that, I agree that it may have been too early to hand out this award to the President. The award is peculiar in the sense that it is not so much an appraisal of what the man has achieved but of what he should be doing and must do. It is a reminder of the tasks Obama has before him in these early days of the 21st Century. Whilst it is a glorification of the trust the world has vested in Obama it would be a grave mistake for us to expect change and the pursuit of peace to come from just this one man.
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2 Responses to An undeserving laureate?
It is an exceptional event which I doubt will ever reoccur in the future. An american president whose awarded the nobel peace prize before even finishing his first term or even first year in office.
I believe the nobel committee simply wan to play politics with the president as now the pressure is building on Pres. Obama and his judgments and actions on who to support and in which manner to do so, become ever more scrutinized.
In any case. Good Luck to him!
He has to partially thank Bush for this award as it is the contrast between the old and new policy which has awarded him the prize.
The award is both patronizing and damaging. It further increases the international community's expectations from the Obama administration when it's obvious that it can't change things much.
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