Republicans and Fox News must be all over this one….President Obama has just been awarded the coveted Nobel Peace Prize. Yes, I am scratching me head too.
While I am a supporter of our President and do believe he has the potential to make significant strides in peaceful conflict resolution, awarding Obama the Nobel Peace Prize ten months into his presidency looks like more of a political message from the Norwegian Peace Committee who unanimously elected Obama as the laureate of said prize. When you consider previous Nobel Peace Prize recipients such as Mother Theresa, The Dali Lama, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and Yitzhak Rabin among many others, you really start to wonder how Obama actually got the award.
According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the Peace Prize is awarded to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." While I think the intentions of the award are great, based the NNC’s own definition of the requirements for the Peace Prize, it should be awarded for past conduct, not the potential of said conduct.
Personally, the Nobel Peace Prize lost a significant amount of legitimacy when it was awarded to Kofi Annan some years ago. Annan was perhaps one of the most corrupt and controversial figures to serve in the United Nations. Reportedly Obama did not know he was a nominee and was shocked and surprised when he heard the news this morning. Wow, can you imagine how we feel!
What do you think?
While I am a supporter of our President and do believe he has the potential to make significant strides in peaceful conflict resolution, awarding Obama the Nobel Peace Prize ten months into his presidency looks like more of a political message from the Norwegian Peace Committee who unanimously elected Obama as the laureate of said prize. When you consider previous Nobel Peace Prize recipients such as Mother Theresa, The Dali Lama, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and Yitzhak Rabin among many others, you really start to wonder how Obama actually got the award.
According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the Peace Prize is awarded to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." While I think the intentions of the award are great, based the NNC’s own definition of the requirements for the Peace Prize, it should be awarded for past conduct, not the potential of said conduct.
Personally, the Nobel Peace Prize lost a significant amount of legitimacy when it was awarded to Kofi Annan some years ago. Annan was perhaps one of the most corrupt and controversial figures to serve in the United Nations. Reportedly Obama did not know he was a nominee and was shocked and surprised when he heard the news this morning. Wow, can you imagine how we feel!
What do you think?
