The award of this year's Nobel peace prize to President Obama will be met with widespread incredulity, consternation in many capitals and probably deep embarrassment by the President himself.
Rarely has an award had such an obvious political and partisan intent. It was clearly seen by the Norwegian Nobel committee as a way of expressing European gratitude for an end to the Bush Administration, approval for the election of America's first black president and hope that Washington will honour its promise to re-engage with the world.
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| President Obama making a brief statement to the media at the White House Rose Garden after he won the Nobel Peace Prize |
Instead, the prize risks looking preposterous in its claims, patronising in its intentions and demeaning in its attempt to build up a man who has barely begun his period in office, let alone achieved any tangible outcome for peace.
The pretext for the prize was Mr Obama's decision to "strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples". Many people will point out that, while the President has indeed promised to "reset" relations with Russia and offer a fresh start to relations with the Muslim world, there is little so far to show for his fine words.
East-West relations are little better than they were six months ago, and any change is probably due largely to the global economic downturn; and America's vaunted determination to re-engage with the Muslim world has failed to make any concrete progress towards ending the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
There is a further irony in offering a peace prize to a president whose principal preoccupation at the moment is when and how to expand the war in Afghanistan.
The spectacle of Mr Obama mounting the podium in Oslo to accept a prize that once went to Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi and Mother Theresa would be all the more absurd if it follows a White House decision to send up to 40,000 more US troops to Afghanistan. However just such a war may be deemed in Western eyes, Muslims would not be the only group to complain that peace is hardly compatible with an escalation in hostilities.
The Nobel committee has made controversial awards before. Some have appeared to reward hope rather than achievement: the 1976 prize for the two peace campaigners in Northern Ireland, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan, was clearly intended to send a signal to the two battling communities in Ulster. But the political influence of the two winners turned out, sadly, to be negligible.
In the Middle East, the award to Menachem Begin of Israel and Anwar Sadat of Egypt in 1978 also looks, in retrospect, as naive as the later award to Yassir Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin - although it could be argued that both the Camp David and Oslo accords, while not bringing peace, were at least attempts to break the deadlock.
Mr Obama's prize is more likely, however, to be compared with the most contentious prize of all: the 1973 prize to Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho for their negotiations to end the Vietnam war. Dr Kissinger was branded a warmonger for his support for the bombing campaign in Cambodia; and the Vietnamese negotiator was subsequently seen as a liar whose government never intended to honour a peace deal but was waiting for the moment to attack South Vietnam.
Mr Obama becomes the third sitting US President to receive the prize. The committee said today that he had "captured the world's attention". It is certainly true that his energy and aspirations have dazzled many of his supporters.
Sadly, it seems they have so bedazzled the Norwegians that they can no longer separate hopes from achievement. The achievements of all previous winners have been diminished.
Courtesy: Timesonline.co.uk
“Use prize as spur to peace”
PARIS, Oct 10, (AFP) - Citizens and world leaders urged US President Barack Obama to seize on his surprise Nobel Peace Prize win Friday to forge peace in the globe's trouble spots and rid the world of nuclear weapons.
From Tokyo to Cape Town, news that the 48-year-old had won the prestigious award just nine months into his presidency was met by a mixture of shock and appeals for Obama to solve a host of local and global issues.
The five-person Norwegian Nobel panel praised Obama's “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,”in a win that astonished the laureate himself.
A “surprised” and “deeply humbled” Obama said he doubted he deserved the honour, but vowed to wield it as a “call to action” to lead a united world against its greatest challenges.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed the prize as “America's return to the hearts of the world's peoples” after disenchantment with the previous presidency of George W. Bush.
Former UN chief Kofi Annan called it “an unexpected but inspired choice.”But the announcement was not universally lauded.
“Who, Obama? So fast? Too fast -- he hasn't had the time to do anything yet,” was the incredulous response of Lech Walesa, Poland's historic trade union leader and the 1983 laureate.
For others, Obama's promotion to the rank of global peacemaker was an opportunity to give him some new assignments.
The prize is in “good hands,” said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, expressing “hope that world peace is a reality and that we have no more nuclear bombs.”The Dalai Lama, who won the prestigious award in 1989, called on Obama to champion “freedom and liberty.”German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Obama's win was an “incentive” for all to do more for peace, adding that his goal of a nuclear-free world is one “we must all try to achieve in the coming years.
”Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, meanwhile, said he hoped it would be a “boost to our joint efforts in forming a new climate in international politics and promoting initiatives that are critically important for global security.”And Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd also backed the award, saying the president's “engagement has changed the dynamics of a number of global and regional debates.
”The 2008 laureate, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, noted that as Middle East peace efforts remain stalled, “this time, it was very clear that they wanted to encourage Obama to move on these issues.”Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said he hoped the prize would help bring about an independent Palestinian state, but the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, decried Obama's win.
“He did not do anything for the Palestinians except make promises,” said Hamas spokesman Samir Abu Zuhri.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, said the award “expresses the hope that your presidency will usher in a new era of peace and reconciliation.”In Afghanistan, where the United States is in the ninth year of a bloody conflict against Taliban extremists, President Hamid Karzai hailed Obama's “hard work and new vision on global relations.”But the decision was condemned by the Taliban, who said he had “not taken a single step toward peace in Afghanistan.”On the streets of Kabul, Afghans said they did not believe Obama's policies had improved the situation in their war-ravaged country.
“The situation is getting worse here,” said shopkeeper Ahmad Tawab. “At least I can say that he is better than George Bush,” said tailor Abdul Hakeem, 18.
The Nobel committee acted “hastily,” said arch foe Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, arguing a “good timing” for the prize would have been after US troops pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq “and the United States is standing up for the rights of the Palestinian people.”UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei -- another former winner -- said Obama had “reached out across divides and made clear that he sees the world as one human family, regardless of religion, race or ethnicity.”In Iraq, 45-year-old bank security guard Abu Istabraq said that Obama “really deserved this prize more than anyone else.”Obama “was able to calm the situation in Iraq and other countries, and he made America reach out to Islamic and Arabic countries,” he said.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama of Japan, the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack, said he saw “the world changing” since Obama entered the White House on January 20.
South African archbishop Desmond Tutu, who won the prize in 1984, saw Obama as a younger incarnation of Nelson Mandela, a 1993 co-laureate.
“It is a very imaginative and somewhat surprising choice. It is wonderful,”he said in Cape Town.
Obama's Kenyan relatives reacted with delight.
“It is an honour to the family...” Said Obama, the president's step-brother, told AFP. Obama's father was Kenyan and the president is considered a favourite son of the east African country. |
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