10.10.09
Obama, Nobel Laureate
I have to admit I was a bit puzzled this morning when I heard the news that President Barak Obama had received the Nobel Peace prize. I like the guy a lot, but, let’s be honest. He’s been in office less than a year. Even if he’d accomplished some grand act of peace-making in such a short time, wouldn’t it make more sense to wait and see if he did more? Perhaps at the end of his term would be a more opportune time. And if he’s like a lot of other former presidents, we can expect some good things from him even after that. So why not honor him later in life?
I tried to come up with a list of things he’d done to promote peace. Here’s what I came up with:
- Canning the European missile defense shield project
- Approaching Iran “without preconditions”
- Scaling back (responsibly) operations in Iraq and Afghanistan
- Taking a hard line on Israeli settlements
Personally, I think these are great things. But they haven’t, well…had much fruit yet. So what gives?
I decided to do a bit more research on the Nobel Peace prize. Here’s what I found. The Nobel prizes in general give grants to promising individuals in many fields. Often decades of work and accomplishments are behind the decision. But there’s a balance. Since 1974, posthumous Nobel prizes have not been given (except in one case where the recipient died between nomination and receiving the award). A grant doesn’t do a dead person much good, when the intention is to promote and encourage their work.
The Nobel prize, then, is really a sort of wager. “Keep your eye on this one. S/he has the potential to do great things.” Sometimes that potential is discerned based on the life’s work of an individual. Sometimes it’s based on a combination of ideas plus power and influence. The latter is more common with the Nobel Peace prize specifically.
So here’s my interpretation of Obama receiving the award: Mr. President, we like the way you’re approaching foreign policy. You have the support and respect of a large number of Americans, and you have the attention of the world. We’re counting on great things from you while you’re in office. Don’t let us down.