The Nobel Peace Prize is an international prize which is awarded annually by the Norwegian Nobel Committee according to guidelines laid down in Alfred Nobel's will. The Peace Prize is one of five prizes that have been awarded annually since 1901 under the auspices of the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm for outstanding contributions in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. Starting in 1969, a Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has also been awarded.
Whereas the other prizes are awarded by specialist committees based in Sweden, the Peace Prize is awarded by a committee appointed by the Norwegian Storting. According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize is to go to whoever ...
"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".
The prize includes a medal, a personal diploma, and a large sum of prize money (currently 10 million Swedish crowns). There were 205 nominees for the Peace Prize this year.
It goes without saying that the Peace Prize Committee has absolute authority to review all nominations for this recognition and award to it whomever they deem fit. That being said, I did some looking around to try and ascertain who the other 204 nominees were who didn't measure up to President Obama's outstanding work for fraternity between nations, his "abolition or reduction of standing armies and for [his] holding and promotion of peace congresses."
Unfortunately, the committee does not itself announce the names of nominees and information in the Nobel Committee's nominations data base is not made public until after fifty years. I guess we will all have to wait until 2059 to find out who the other nominees were!
It is interesting to note that the deadline for submission of nominations to the committee was February 1, 2009. As Senator Obama was sworn in as President of the United States on January 20, 2009, that gave him a whole 11 days in office as Commander in Chief at the time of the nomination deadline. Obviously then, Obama's nomination to the Committee was, in all probability, submitted prior to his assuming his position of President.
Although not from lack of trying, I have been unable to identiify any source claiming to have nominated Preisident Obama for this award. I am sure his nomination would make for some intresting reading as it would not be an exageration of facts to state that his curriculum vitae was pretty thin when he was elected President.
Having said the above, the question still lingers - exactly what has Barack Obama accompished to merit this award?
Although 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 ( Jimmy Carter -2002 and Al Gore -2007), it now appears that the committee has expanded its interpretation of Nobel's guidelines yet again to include a "feel good" category, bereft of any actual accomplishment but replete with promises of hope and change accompanied by stirring oratory.
I can only hope that our President does not begin to believe his own press coverage in this regard when he finally decides to sit down and start making some hard decisions regarding Iran, Afghanistan, the Middle East, international terrorism, the falling dollar, rising unemployment rates, and the like. Those decisons must be made with our nation's best interest at heart and not simply as a means of obliging the interests of others.
In awarding this Nobel Peace Prize to a sitting President, the Nobel Committee has, in effect, placed an additional, and heavy, constraint on our Presidient regarding his foreign policy actions. Which, absent the sudden break out of a lasting world peace, the award should only be considered for heads of state after they have left office.
It is interesting to note that the deadline for submission of nominations to the committee was February 1, 2009. As Senator Obama was sworn in as President of the United States on January 20, 2009, that gave him a whole 11 days in office as Commander in Chief at the time of the nomination deadline. Obviously then, Obama's nomination to the Committee was, in all probability, submitted prior to his assuming his position of President.
Although not from lack of trying, I have been unable to identiify any source claiming to have nominated Preisident Obama for this award. I am sure his nomination would make for some intresting reading as it would not be an exageration of facts to state that his curriculum vitae was pretty thin when he was elected President.
Having said the above, the question still lingers - exactly what has Barack Obama accompished to merit this award?
Although 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 ( Jimmy Carter -2002 and Al Gore -2007), it now appears that the committee has expanded its interpretation of Nobel's guidelines yet again to include a "feel good" category, bereft of any actual accomplishment but replete with promises of hope and change accompanied by stirring oratory.
I can only hope that our President does not begin to believe his own press coverage in this regard when he finally decides to sit down and start making some hard decisions regarding Iran, Afghanistan, the Middle East, international terrorism, the falling dollar, rising unemployment rates, and the like. Those decisons must be made with our nation's best interest at heart and not simply as a means of obliging the interests of others.
In awarding this Nobel Peace Prize to a sitting President, the Nobel Committee has, in effect, placed an additional, and heavy, constraint on our Presidient regarding his foreign policy actions. Which, absent the sudden break out of a lasting world peace, the award should only be considered for heads of state after they have left office.
Peter J. Mahon
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are always welcome!