a Nobel? really?

[cellio]

I'm neither an Obama fan nor an Obama detractor -- not an extremist on either side. From some things I've heard today, it seems important to state that.

I'm mystified by his receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize. It's possible that he could earn that someday, but now? He'd been in office for ten days when nominations closed, and since then he really hasn't done anything on the peace front yet. I don't understand what's going on in the heads of the folks on the Nobel committee.

Al Gore's prize doesn't seem to have anything to do with peace either, so this isn't the first time they've done something to prompt "WTF?"s. Have they changed the charter of the Peace Prize? It would be sad if it became meaningless.

Comments

[geekosaur]

They've had their share of WTFs over the years, actually; this one is small potatoes. (I personally suspect his main qualification is that he's not a Republican.)

[sue-n-julia.livejournal.com]

I did support Obama's bid for president and I was left scratching my head on this too. I came to the conclusion that this was a F***-You to the Bush administration.

S

[anastasiav.livejournal.com]

He'd been in office for ten days when nominations closed

Nominations closed back in February, but the vote wasn't until October.

and since then he really hasn't done anything on the peace front yet.

There has been a long, intelligent discussion about this on Metafilter (http://www.metafilter.com/85692/Obama-wins-Nobel-Prize-Peace-2009) today. Thorbjoern Jagland, the chairman of the Peace Prize committee has been quoted (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html?_r=1&ref=us) in a number of places today with specific references to Obama's stand on the Nuclear Arsenal -- in particular, his statement that if the US is going to tell other nations they shouldn't have nuclear weapons then we shouldn't have them either (I believe this was in the Cairo speech, but feel free to fact check me on that).

Which is not to say that I don't also think its a weird choice, but I do believe they had very specific reasons (aside from the whole "he brings us hope" thing) in voting as they did.

Al Gore's prize doesn't seem to have anything to do with peace either

I tend to think that the after-effects of Global Climate change -- in particular, drought and the effect of weather on already marginal food supplies in certain parts of the world -- will do more than any political viewpoint to cause war, suffering, and strife. Fighting for food is the most basic of instincts, and if Global Climate change accelerates I think we'll see more and more conflicts based around the struggle to gain control of scarce resources. But, of course, I'm not on the committee.

[cellio]

Thanks for the information. That does help fill it in a little. (Still feels weird to me, though.)

As for Gore, that same argument would apply to work in public health, agriculture, and probably other things. It just seems like there are other Nobels that cover that.

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

I suspect Gore comes in under a broader reading of the peace prize as a reward for those working to benefit society. The Red Cross has received it several times, and their efforts seem less aimed specifically at the promotion of peace than they do at the general relief and prevention of suffering--accepting that disasters (war, but also famine, earthquakes, fires, &c) will happen and working to mitigate their impact. Working to prevent/ameliorate global warming and its disastrous consequences could be considered to be in the same vein, though certainly Gore has not done as much in his area as the RC has in theirs.

But even under that broader reading, Obama's award still makes no sense.

[cellio]

Hmm, ok. If the peace prize is really a "making life better for people" award, then I can see how Gore might have gotten it. (I don't agree with the choice but I can at least understand it, cast in that light.)

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

Hm, other non-strictly-peacemaking recipients include Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, Lech Walesa while he was still an underground unionist rather than an official politician, the International Labor Organization, and I stopped scanning the list in the 60s. It really does seem to be awarded for humanitarian purposes fairly often.

[talvinamarich.livejournal.com]

What saddens me is that so many people are trying to blame it on President Obama.

Blame it on Norway's Government. Really. They choose the people who decide who is going to get the prize.

The Nobel Peace Prize has always been an attempt to influence policy. This is just a bit more brazen than some.

I think his kids say it best, though.

"After I received the news, Malia walked in and said, 'Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo's birthday,' " referring to the First Mutt. "And then Sasha added, 'Plus we have a three-day weekend coming up,' " in reference to Columbus Day. "So it's good to have kids to keep things in perspective." Source here. (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1929447,00.html)

[cellio]

Blaming President Obama is wrong, yes. The committee is responsible for the choice, not him. Yes, he could have declined it, but I'm not sure that would have made sense either.

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

I agree that it seems early, but I'm still happy. I hope that he lives up to it in the coming years, and I expect he will.

[byronhaverford.livejournal.com]

Meh. That's nothing. Rank the following Nobel Peace Prizes in order of least to greatest WTF?:

Barack Obama
Al Gore
Yassir Arafat

[cellio]

Oh, Arafat was a big WTF, definitely. Presumably he got it for being willing to shake hands, despite his unwillingness to call off his terrorists. That one had to be so mired in politics as to have no hope of making sense to the rest of us.

[nsingman.livejournal.com]

Barack Obama is a war criminal, and was by the time he was nominated. After all, it was only three days into his term that his Predator drones killed Pakistani civilians. However, he certainly wasn't the most blood-soaked recipient, considering past "laureates" like Woodrow Wilson, Teddy Roosevelt, Henry Kissinger, Yassir Arafat and Menachem Begin.

In any event, considering the nature of so many past recipients, I long ago stopped considering the Nobel Peace Prize to be worth anything.

[zevabe.livejournal.com]

I too was surprised & think it is too soon. However, I hope he lives up to it, as indigodove said.