As you all may know by now, Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. In the words of the US US
However, as I read the news more and more, I found myself faced with more questions rather than obvious answers to this historic “incident”. While I don’t want to dwell on ALL the questions here, I would like to touch upon a few important ones.
- Does Obama receiving the award under the circumstances he did, diminish or negate the value of the Nobel Committee and its overall administrative system?
- Is there more than meets the eye, as to why Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, after nearly nine months in office?
Does Obama receiving the award under the circumstances he did, diminish or negate the value of the Nobel Committee and its overall administrative system?
The predecessors of the Nobel Peace Prize have included the likes of Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, Tensin Gyatso (The 14th Dalai Lama), Aung Saan Suu Kyi, the UN Peace Keeping Forces etc. Each of the names mentioned above, and almost all of the other Nobel Peace Prize awardees to date have been the paradigm of peace (The word “almost” and not “all” is used deliberately and I hope to elaborate more on this in one of my forthcoming articles) and more importantly redefined the word “peace” to us, year on year. These are names that almost need no introduction no matter what corner of the world you are in. My point however, is not strengthened by the fact that they don’t need an introduction or in other words, how famous each one was, and therefore deemed worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize in the eyes of the global citizen such as myself.
Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize 31 years after she left the convent to work with the poor. Nelson Mandela joined the ANC (African National Congress) in 1944 and his efforts were rewarded in 1993. Therefore, going by simple logic of what it takes to achieve the world’s most prestigious award for peace; one would imagine that the recipient of the award is well renowned in the field globally, has made several contributions through reforms / policies globally to bring about peace and harmony or fought the system hard to scale down tensions and avoid conflicts. Just for the record, the following is what the great Alfred Bernhard Nobel put forth as the definition of the Nobel Peace Prize
According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize should be 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.”
I think the definition is quite simple to comprehend with the keyword being “done”. Coming back to the main subject, when I heard of this piece of news, in my mind I was probably more surprised than Obama himself but eventually became more upset at the system that chose a president of a country, who had been in office for just about 9 months! Don’t worry Obama fans, I like Obama so far and also, I aint a “playa hater”… I just didn’t like this game. J
I just want to end this topic with a forewarning to the Nobel Committee. We hope the spirit of this award and what it means to all of us is not compromised in the coming years.
Did you know?
Adolf Hitler was nominated in 1939 by Erik Brandt, a member of the Swedish Parliament. Brandt never intended for this nomination to be seriously considered, and submitted it in protest to the nomination of a British politician.
Other infamous nominees included Joseph Stalin and Benito Mussolini.
Mahatma Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and, finally, a few days before he was murdered in January 1948, but was never awarded.
Jokes on Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009
"That's pretty amazing, Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Ironically, his biggest accomplishment as president so far: winning the Nobel Peace Prize." --Jay Leno
"The Nobel committee said he won for creating a new climate for international politics. Which sounds so much nicer than 'In your face George Bush you cowboy a**hole." -- Bill Maher
"Obama said he will attend the ceremony in Oslo
"President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The committee said they gave it to Obama partly for his idealism and commitment to global cooperation, but mostly for calling Kanye West a jackass" -- Conan O'Brien
"Along with the Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama also gets $1.4 million. Usually to get a check that big, you need to blackmail David Letterman" -- Jimmy Fallon
"From our standpoint, you know, we think that this gives us a sense of momentum ... when the United States
Is there more than meets the eye, as to why Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, after nearly nine months in office?
While the committee members who chose Obama (http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/nomination_committee/members/) are all Norwegian, a bit of research into their backgrounds can raise many questions. From Thorbjørn Jagland who was described as a “friendly contact” / “confidential contact” by the KGB to Kaci Kullmann Five who serves on the board of the country’s largest Oil Corporation (Statoil) to Ågot Valle who held responsibilities in foreign affairs. One of the theories is that this was a move to weaken the voice of the United States
Mind you that in 1996, Yasser Arafat visited Norway for 2 days when Jagland was the Prime Minister for Norway Afghanistan United States on what policies the US
A different twist to this theory could also mean that the people who chose the Nobel Peace Prize winner don’t want the US
All in all, my sincere opinion is that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 was more of an “investment” rather than recognition. I welcome your thoughts on who the “investor” was.
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