The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize – so what’s Obama Done? Thorbjoern Jagland, the Committee Chairman stated, "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." From the start he has made an about face in foreign policy and taken America in a much more sane direction, a direction understood by the rest of the world. But just as the US was slow to realize the change in world attitude brought about by JFK early in his administration, the US again is slow to recognize world attitudes and the international accomplishments of Obama. And so we question why Obama was awarded this prize.
While the US was beginning to find fault with the new president, i.e., Obama’s recession, Obama’s war, Obama’s debt, etc., the rest of the world was lauding the change in global mood wrought by Obama's calls for peace and cooperation, and praising his pledges to reduce the world stock of nuclear arms, ease U.S. conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthen the US role in combating climate change. His win sparked a global outpouring of praise in unequal measure.
Former Peace Prize winner Mohamed El Baradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, said Obama has already provided outstanding leadership in the effort to prevent nuclear proliferation. “I could not think of anybody who is more deserving."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama embodies the "return of America into the hearts of the people of the world."
Obama's election and foreign policy moves caused a dramatic improvement in the image of the U.S. around the world. A 25-nation poll of 27,000 people released in July 2009 by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found double-digit boosts to the percentage of people viewing the U.S. favorably in countries around the world. That same indicator had plunged across the world under President George W. Bush.
So Obama wins this huge international, historical prize, and the US view for many, including the American Press, is one of embarrassment! Around the world, the Nobel Peace Prize carries tremendous admiration, but scores of Americans blamed the Nobel Committee and Obama, saying both should be ashamed. While the world recovered from the arrogance of the last administration, the American press began to call Obama arrogant. Rush Limbaugh called the award a “joke.” The US news media put forth, without answer, the question, “Exactly what did Obama do before Feb 1 that deserved nomination?” (the cut off date for nominations). Some editorialists answered with, “He went around apologizing to the world, a show of weakness.” But for the rest of the world he is respected for the following initiatives:
July 25, 2008 - Berlin - In a highly unusual move for an American Presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama staged a foreign policy speech before a Berlin audience of over 200,000, calling for renewed trans-Atlantic cooperation to fight religious extremism, terrorism, global warming, and poverty. He said, “This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons.It is time to reduce the arsenals from another era.” His “I speak to you as a proud citizen of the United States and a fellow citizen of the world," was compared to a speech some 45 years earlier in the same city when President John F. Kennedy's said "Ich bin ein Berliner" (1963). To many Americans his speech outside of the US while still a US Senator demonstrated arrogance.. http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/69489
September 25, 2008 - The largest number of Nobel Laureates to ever endorse a candidate, 61 in all, endorsed Obama. They said in a letter that the country urgently needs a visionary leader and they applauded Obama’s emphasis during the campaign on the power of science and technology to enhance the nation’s competitiveness.
* He made numerous uplifting speeches to work with the world for a nuclear weapon-free world and a vision for approaching the world's major conflicts through dialogue and engagement rather than confrontation. http://peaceblog.wordpress.com/2009/01/
* He emphasized his personal investment in multilateralism - multiple countries working in concert on a given issue, especially through the United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organization. He urged inter-dependence specifying that any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail.
* Mar 23, 2009 - Russian president Medvedev said he welcomes the shift in tone from Washington. He praised the new administration for a remarkable change in attitude and forecast future close cooperation.
* April 2, 2009. At the G-20 Summit Obama changed to whole world economic philosophy by persuading the other countries to prioritize economic crisis management through the G-20, and include China and India as equals thus validating their emerging economies' into the top level of economic governance. This has strengthened America's position. What's remarkable is that Obama crafted these changes in a quiet, un-showy way. This has ensured that European governments -- which inevitably see their influence diminish as Asia's rises -- have accepted the new balance of power gracefully.
* April 5, 2009 - In a speech in Prague, the CzechRepublic, he spoke of "America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."
* Jun 4, 2009 - in a speech to the Islamic world in Cairo he eliminated the term "War on Terror." He said, “I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles - principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.” http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Cairo-University-6-04-09/
* Sep 2009 - He took the issues of nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament to the United Nations, becoming the first US president to preside over a session of the Security Council.
Oslo, Norway October 9, 2009 - The Norwegian Nobel Committee warded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons. Obama as President has created a new climate in international politics. 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. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. As a result democracy and human rights will be strengthened.
Thorbjoern Jagland, the Committee Chairman, said they whittled down a record pool of 205 nominations and had "several candidates until the last minute." Speculation had focused on a wide variety of candidates besides Obama: Zimbabwe's Prime Minister (Morgan Tsvangirai), a Colombian senator, a Chinese dissident and an Afghan woman's rights activist, among others. But at the very end it became more obvious that "we couldn't get around these deep changes that are taking place" under Obama. Jagland said the decision to honor Obama was unanimous which has not always been the case. Jagland rejected the notion that Obama had been recognized prematurely and had done little to merit the prize. He said, “Well, I'd say then that it could be too late to respond three years from now.” Jagland went on to stress that it made its decision based on Mr. Obama’s actual efforts toward nuclear disarmament as well as American engagement with the world relying more on diplomacy and dialogue. “The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world. 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. His 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. For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman."
Obama response - “This award is not simply about my administration. It must be shared with everyone who strives for justice and dignity.” Obama is the third sitting U.S. president to win the award: President Theodore Roosevelt won in 1906 and President Woodrow Wilson was awarded the prize in 1919.
In his 1895 will, Alfred Nobel stipulated that the peace prize should go "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." The committee has taken a wide interpretation of Nobel's guidelines, expanding the prize beyond peace mediation to include efforts to combat poverty, disease and climate change.
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to 97 individuals, 21 of whom are Americans. In 2009, a record 205 nominations were received. The statutes of the Nobel Foundation do not allow information about nominations, considerations or investigations relating to awarding the prize to be made public for at least 50 years after a prize has been awarded.The Nobel Foundation has been criticized in the past for nominating people like Mahatma Gandhi, Pope John Paul II, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Corazon Aquino for never winning. The omission ofGandhi has been particularly widely discussed and publicly regretted by later members of the Nobel Committee. When the Dalai Lama was awarded the Peace Prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was "in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi."
1901 - Jean Henri Dunant. Switzerland “[for] his role in founding the International Committee of the Red Cross"
1906 - President Theodore Roosevelt, for his “role in bringing to an end the bloody war” between Japan and Russia
1919 -President Woodrow Wilson, for his role in ending World War I.
1953 -George C. Marshall defense secretary under President Truman, for his role in rebuilding Europe after World War II (the Marshall Plan).
1962 - Linus Pauling, a chemist, for his campaign against nuclear testing and the spread of nuclear weapons, as well as his work “against all warfare as a means of solving international conflicts.”
1964 -The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “for being the first person in the Western world to have shown us that a struggle can be waged without violence.”
1971 –Willy BrandtWest Germany "for West Germany's Ostpolitik" Change Through Rapprochement to normalize his country's relations with Eastern European nations (especially East Germany).
1973 - Henry Kissinger, shared with Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam (refused), for negotiating the pullout of American troops in return for a cease-fire. Mr. Tho declined the prize. The Kissinger-Thọ award prompted two dissenting Committee members to resign.
1978 - Anwar Sadat Egypt and Menachem Begin Israel "for the Camp David Agreement, which brought about a negotiated peace between Egypt and Israel"
1979 - MotherTeresa India "Leader of Missionaries of Charity"
1983 -Lech Wałęsa Poland"Founder of Solidarity, the first non-Communist-controlled trade union in a Warsaw Pact country"
1989 - 14th Dalai LamaTibet"for his struggle for the liberation of Tibet.
1990 - Mikhail Gorbachev - Soviet Union President of the Soviet Union, for his his pivotal role in the collapse of European communism and an end to the cold war. Contrary to US historical conceptions Pres Reagan did not end the Cold War. Gorbachev did. However, credit must be given to Reagan for talks with the Russian leader. Furthermore Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) had no impact on the Russians as revealed in debriefings from Russian military generals in the 1990’s. Even today there are Americans who still believe in SDI. Despite Ronald Reagan’s speech in 1987 at the Brandenburg Gate demanding “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!," it was Gorbachev who played the solo role in ending the cold war.
1991 - Aung San Suu Kyi - Burma "for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights"
1997 -Jody Williams, shared with her group International Campaign to Ban Landmines, “for their work for the banning and clearing of anti-personnel mines.”
2002 - Former President Jimmy Carter, for his efforts “to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”
2007 -Former Vice President Al Gore, shared the prize with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change.”
2009 -President Barack Obama, “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples' vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.”
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