Nobel Laureate Barack Obama?
Courtesy of Creative Commons
I woke up this morning to the news that President Barack Obama has been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Let me say this again: a Nobel Peace Prize. What did he do, again? Did I miss something while I was burying my head in the books stacked in Lehman library? Did I skim through some event where Obama brokered lasting peace in the Middle East, or mastered some negotiation with Al Qaeda, forever eliminating the threat of terrorist attacks? I scratch my head. Just eight months into his presidency, the Nobel Committee has decided to throw their weight behind Barack Obama — and yet, I wonder whether this clearly politically motivated move will backfire for the Committee. I was reading earlier this week about the history of the Nobel picks and was surprised to find that Ghandi has never won a Nobel Peace Prize. And yet, Yasser Arafat was awarded the title in 1994. Eleanor Roosevelt was seriously considered, but didn’t make the cut despite her seminal work in promoting women’s rights. Already, the Twitter feeds and blog posts are on fire about this. What do you think, oh student of the international affairs?
Related Posts
- Video: ICT and Development Panel
- Video: eDiplomacy Ushers In a New Culture of Collaboration at State
- SIPA and Ushahidi Collaborate on Chilean Crisis Mapping
- Call for volunteers for Ushahidi crisis mapping
More from this author
- The New SIPASA
- First year SIPA students hit the polling stations
- Nobel Laureate Barack Obama?
- Invitation to the 2009 Global Public Policy Network Student Conference
Subscribe to this author
I think he got the Nobel Peace Prize for running against the policies of the Bush administration and winning. Actually, that’s good enough for me.
You know, when I heard the news, I scratched my head about it, too. I thought I’d missed something, some big tangible event, some negotiation, or passed legislation, or meeting, or something. I thought it was weird. And thought maybe it would have been better had it happened in a few years when Obama had done something that could be added as a bullet point to his resume (assuming he will do something). Like, say, fixed the mess in Afghanistan that has really been happening at least since the 70s.
But, realizing that I wasn’t an informed expert on Nobel Peace Prizes, I decided to go to the source to learn more about the prize, their website. On it, it says, “As described in Nobel’s will, one part was dedicated 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”.
I can’t say that I have done a formal extensive study on how all people everywhere have been impacted by Obama’s international presence and policy. My guess is, no one can really say that.
But, I can say this. The day he was elected, I was on an airplane to London. When his victory was announced, a large portion of the people on the plane clapped. I think it is reasonable to assume that a fair portion of the plane–British Air flight, headed to a European city–was not American born.
The next day, I was in Paris, and for the next several days, there was this tangible celebration in the air. Obama’s face was everywhere. So much excitement.
In January, I was in Lagos, Nigeria. For two weeks, I met with journalists, NGOs, university professors, bankers, businesspeople, and assorted miscellaneous people, all Nigerian-born. It was two weeks of talking about Obama, though my being there had nothing to do with Obama or talking about him. But, there was just so much excitement over his election. Everybody wanted to talk about him, especially with an American. I was in the airport in Lagos the day he was inaugurated. I sat near a TV in a lounge with a lounge full of Nigerians glued to the TV, all smiling and visibly happy as they watched Obama make his oath. He has clearly affirmed people in Nigeria.
In June and July, I was in Ukraine, meeting with journalists and NGOs, and other assorted miscellaneous people from all socio-economic levels. The same excitement, very similar conversations as those in Nigeria.
And I remember a conversation I had with a Ukrainian in Ukraine in 2006. She said, “Ben, do you realize that when we see George Bush on TV, we think he is an idiot. And, it makes us think that Americans are idiots”. There was a lot of negative sentiment among the Ukrainians I worked with during my two years there (04-06) directed toward George Bush and that doctrine of his.
People don’t like war. They especially don’t like more war.
When I think about it all in this light, I think I understand why, in some ways, Obama deserves this prize. He represents a huge global shift. Because of Obama, the most powerful country in the world is now going to ask questions first and shoot later, instead of the other way around. Suddenly, fraternity between nations, reduction of standing armies, and holding and promoting peace congresses is back in style the world over. All with what he spent two years campaigning for, was elected for, and continued to be consistent about in his policy.
Sure, his healthcare hasn’t been passed yet. The stimulus bills have been questionable. His economic team is made up of people who helped get us here in the first place. But this is all national stuff, not international stuff.
Perhaps he hasn’t done one single bullet point tangible thing internationally. But, I think a pretty good argument can be made that he has had a global impact on the themes the Nobel committee use to determine who wins that has made him a deserving candidate, if not the most.
It’s important to keep in mind that a small committee of people from a single country awarded him this honor. Based on my personal experience in traveling to all sorts of countries, talking to all sorts of people, I think it’s safe to say that that sentiment doesn’t stop there.