is

He’s only nine months into the first term of
his presidency but that was all he needed
to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Did President
Barack Obama deserve to win this great hon-
our, or is the Nobel Committee simply blinded
by his celebrity? Does Barack Obama de-
serve to be mentioned in the same breath as
Dr. Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa and
Lester B. Pearson? Or have his efforts thus
far made him as deserving as anyone else?

Too soon to reward Obama for unfulfilled promises

By Tanya Colledge

artin Luther King Jr. for his campaign for civil
rights; Mother Teresa for her humanitarian work;
His Holiness the Dalai Lama for his struggle for
the liberation of Tibet. These great men and women, all
winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, dedicated their lives and
careers to advocating peaceful solutions for their people,
and for the world.
But Barack Obama? What has he done?
Barack Obama has been president of the United States
for nine months—a short period of time in which he has
successfully wooed an entire nation and world with his

powerful be of no

ene “Sure, Obama has given the world hope for a better future, but it is °""P™S¢ BIven
= too soon to be rewarding him for things he has not yet delivered.” ‘° "*ciPients
begun to 9 9 y . honoured
change the during the Bush

direction and tone of American foreign policy. There is no
doubt that Obama has begun to steer the ship in the right
direction, however, he has failed to back up his heavy
promises with concrete action.

According to Nobel’s will, the Peace Prize should be
awarded to the person who “during the preceding year [...]
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.” So why bestow such a prestigious award to
a man who, when nominations were due in February, had
only been president for two months? That doesn’t seem
to agree with Nobel’s exigence for the most or best work
done in the preceding year. The only other two sitting
presidents who won the prize— Theodore Roosevelt in
1906 for negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War
and Woodrow Wilson in 1919 for his role in founding the
League of Nations—had both been in their second terms.

The Nobel Committee has since spoken out on the

By Trevor Dore, Acting Opinions Editor

Nobel wrote and signed his last will. He made the

decision to invest the capital of his fortune, one of
the largest of its time, in safe securities and to have the
interest divided five ways and awarded to outstanding
contributions in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature
and peace. Following Nobel’s death, the Norwegian Nobel
Committee was created and put in charge of awarding the
prize annually on an international level.

Each
year, the Nobel
committee
comes together
to collaborate
and decide
whom to award
the prestigious
prize. When coming to a decision about the 2009 award,
the Nobel committee came to a unanimous decision,
awarding the president of the United States of America,
Barack Obama. “Only very rarely has a person to the same
extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given
its people hope for a better future,” said the committee.

Some may argue that President Obama has not
made any significant “contributions” towards peace and
therefore does not deserve the prize. However, in Alfred
Nobel’s words, the peace prize will be awarded to “...
the person who shall have done the most or the best
work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition
or reduction of standing armies and the formation and
spreading of peace congresses.”

While president Obama said he did not feel he
deserved “‘to be in the company of past Peace Prize

I: 1895, the Nobel Prizes were created when Alfred

Obama a deserving recipient

 

eAitfon

 

controversy surrounding the award and defended their
decision by saying that Obama was rewarded for his efforts
to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation
between peoples, and for capturing the world’s attention
and giving its people hope for the future. Well, Britney
Spears sure captures the world’s attention, but we don’t see
her winning a prize for it, do we?

The Washington Post reported Thorbjoern Jagland,
chair of the committee, saying, “We are hoping this may
contribute a little bit for what he is trying to do,” and that
the prize “is a clear signal to the world that we want to
advocate the same as he has done to promote international
diplomacy.” This confession of political motive should

administration— opponents Al Gore and Jimmy Carter. It
is clear that had Barack Obama not taken over the White
House after George Bush’s eight years of destruction, he
would not have won. Obama won because he is no Bush—
plain and simple.

The Nobel Committee’s cute “everybody wins
for trying” reason for awarding the Peace Prize to the
president is an embarrassment to the men and women
whom he is to share this great honour with. Sure, Obama
has given the world hope for a better future, but it is
too soon to be rewarding him for things he has not yet
delivered. If Obama can successfully get Congress to agree
to substantive cuts in greenhouse gases, get U.S. troops out
of Afghanistan and Iraq, and lower the world’s supply of
nuclear weapons, there is no question that he should be the
winner. But for now, Obama should consider this award a
down payment for what is to come and for all the promises
he has made.

winners,” but he accepted the prize as a “call to action.”
The prize is used to honour specific achievements
but also to inspire momentum. Awarding the president
acknowledges his efforts to solve complex global problems
and will hopefully encourage a continuation towards
world unity, prevention of global warming, mitigation of
the spread of nuclear weapons, a reversal of the global
economic downturn and a resolution of the Arab-Israeli
conflict.
Obama acknowledges that the challenges of the 21*
century cannot be overcome by any one leader and will
require the efforts
of all nations to

 

“He is in a position and has the power to create massive amounts” ‘gether
of change in terms of peace on a global scale—his greatest
accomplishments are still in the making and yet to come.”

cooperatively.
Perhaps the
president was not
selected for his
accomplishments
but rather for his “vision” and his inspirational “hope.”
He is in a position and has the power to create massive
amounts of change in terms of peace on a global scale—his
greatest accomplishments are still in the making and yet to
come.

To top it all off, Obama plans to donate the $1.4
million prize to charity.

Barack Obama is a worldwide inspiration, instilling
a vision of hope, “Yes we can” on a worldwide scale. He
has the power to bring the nations of the world together
to work cooperatively towards a more peaceful future. In
his first year of presidency he has laid the groundwork
for future accomplishments. The prize acknowledges this
groundwork and encourages continued movement towards
a more peaceful world as a whole.

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