I bet President Barack Obama is not just surprised but a little embarrassed at being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Just nine months after being elected, it is not only premature, but also a little cynical to award him the prize so soon.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee says they have awarded him the prize because he has created “a new climate in international politics” and because he is now “the world’s leading spokesman” for the values and attitudes the Nobel Peace Prize seeks to represent. He has, they say, “captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future”.
In other words, in a world when there is still a war raging in Afghanistan and an Iraq that is far from peaceful, when an Israeli foreign minister tells us categorically that peace is but an illusion and that we should learn to live with the conflict, when every day millions of men, women and children die and suffer needlessly because of ongoing military conflicts, the best we can hope for is someone who gives us hope.
In several respects the Nobel committee has done him, and the rest of us, a disservice. By awarding him the prize before he has actually done anything, they are essentially rewarding him for being on the right road. It is cynical to award a peace prize to someone just because he says the right things and makes the right moves. Are they worried that if they wait a few years all these hopes will have been dashed? Or is it simply that none of the other 204 contenders was up to the task?
Or is the best we can hope for in terms of peace is not having in power the likes of George W. Bush and his trigger-happy friends? We can’t even say that by removing George Bush from office, Obama has indeed made the world a more peaceful place. No American president is eligible for a third term. Yes, he defeated a candidate, John McCain, who would have followed Bush’s policies. But does that qualify one for a Nobel Peace Prize?
Of course, the committee is absolutely right to point out that Obama has signaled a return to diplomacy to resolve conflict: “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.”
In some ways his approach toward Iran has been a testament to this approach and he certainly deserves credit for understanding the importance and power of diplomacy. Would the previous administration have found the finesse to lead Iran to the negotiating table? Possibly not. But is that enough of an achievement?
The main reason for picking Obama is for his commitment to nuclear disarmament. The Nobel Committee attached “special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.” And right they are. But why now? Why reward him whilst negotiations are ongoing? Apparently, Obama’s “diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.”
I do wonder whether the Norwegian committee is sitting in a glass palace as it ponders the state of the world. Not only do they consider talking about peace enough to merit a peace prize, but they think the majority of the world’s population shares a set of common values and attitudes with the president of the United States. Are they not just a little deluded?
By awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize at this stage in his presidency they have belittled the meaning of peace. It’s easy for those of us who sit in the comfort and safety of peace to pretend that the charm and vision of an articulate and attractive president provides solace for those who do not have this luxury.
As US president, Obama has a heavy responsibility. He alone could broker a peace settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. He believes “it is past time to talk about starting negotiations. It is time to move forward.” But have they moved forward?
Barack Obama is already handicapped by the weight of expectations. By adding a Nobel Peace Prize to the weight on his shoulders, he is almost cursed to become the man who failed the world. They have rewarded him for potential rather than achievement, for vision rather than action, and that is not what the prize should be about.
They should have given him the space and time to make good on his promises and then, and only then, could he be judged worthy of such a prize.
