US president Barack Hussein Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize 2009, just nine months into his first term in office.
As US troops shift gear from action in war-ravaged Iraq to an expected surge in war-torn Afghanistan, questions are being raised whether the Norwegian Nobel Committee has rushed in its praise for Obama’s foreign policy that is yet to be termed a success.
While the committee pays tribute to the first black US president for ‘his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,’ the world is yet to see any major conflicts such as the Middle-East crisis coming even close to a resolution.
Some may agree with the committee when it says that ‘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,’ but the question being asked is whether the president will live up to the expectations? Do you think Obama now as a Nobel Peace Prize winner will fare any better for the people of Pakistan and the rest of the world?
The views expressed in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
Vienna,09-10-2009
This is an award for the about turn by the United
States from divisiveness into global unity and
shared values.In that sense it is an award to
the U.S. as a nation.I wonder if any American President has generated so much hope as
President Obama,has done.No mean achievement.
I am delighted and thrilled.
I do wish President Obama dilivers of course.The
signs are that he is winning adversaries not
enemies as friends.
-Kulamarva Balakrishna
very undeserved nobel prize.seems it has been awarded for nothing
He IS better than BUSH but not so tht shd be given to……………. still much is needed for the CHANGE..
I think Obama was a pretty decent choice for this award. He did the one thing very few leaders have attempted to do – communicate. Or at least demonstrate the willingness to communicate with those whom the US is wary about (re Iran). Unless we demonstrate a clear desire to want to communicate, how on earth do we expect to make peace with our foes? Clear, concise and appropriate actions only come after, what’s the point in DOING anything, when one does not know WHAT to do, because they never bothered communicating? For me, Obama did that, yes, we have to see if this translate to concrete action. But also look at it this way, while this may be a great achievement for Obama, it is also a very subtle and deceptively simple message to him that the pressure is on!!
To me he has not done any thing yet for PEACE. i think he dont deserve it. very bad decision
Naa i reckon its a hasty decision. If they give Nobel Peace prizez for talking smooth n making good speeches then i reckon i should get one as well. All he has done since taking office is talk, talk n talk. No actions. Infact they have made a mockery of this prestigious prize.
i thought it was a joke when i first heard about it.
when he came to power the palestine and isreal conflict was raging. it took him more than ten days to make a related statment and when he did, it was in total support of isreal.
backtracking on the kashmir issue.
not pulling out of iraq like he promised.
giving no pullout date for afghanistan.
someone please tell me why would he get a nobel peace prize. give it to me. atleast i havent started a war….
I believe this to be a very pre-mature decision on part of the Nobel Committee. Its not on the basis of ones intentions or efforts alone that an individual should be judged.
If that were the case, I believe it would be fair to say that Osama bin Laden or Mullah Omar (i know absurd) would have been suitable as well. Afterall, in his will, Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel said the Peace Prize, presented annually in Oslo, 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.” Or perhaps every new UN secretary general should win it, as he is at the helm of affairs of a global congress.
Osama and Mullah Omar, did call for the reduction and rather eradication of troops from land that they belonged to, only difference was that they were not democratically elected as per the idea of popular democracy. One a leader of his people and the other a citizen of his land and a hero if seen through the scope of the Cold War era.
Obama surely has tried, has reached out to the world, but what are we comparing to, George Dubbya Bush?? Any change from a war mongering leader is a pleasant one. I believe its a conflict of interest when you have the leader of a nation that has clear hegemony in many spheres to be awarded a prize at all as his intentions have always been one of realpolitik and self interest. Were this the leader of say Brunei, who had made similar calls as Obama, it would have been more appropriate.
President Obama has much to show in his remaining years, reaching out is one thing, but while you rally your congress to send 40,000 additional troops to a foreign occupied land under the banner of the War on Terror, I say step aside Mr. President, get your troops out and work on an amicable solution to the areas which now see more death and destruction under American/Nato/Coalition occupation than they saw under the regimes that America thought oppressive, surely Oil and a stronghold in Southern Asia to counter China had nothing to do with it.
But I do wish you well and hope that this peace prize is well deserved once your term in office is complete and once the many troubled areas of the world find peace.
Either the standards for this award are very low or there isn’t any real peace making going one.
Obama, Al Gore, Baradei, Arafat, Perez – not the first names that come to my mind when thinking of people who have made significant strides in settling conflicts.
Obama is not a worthy winner, the reason I say this because, I haven’t seen him do anything concrete to resolve global issues, yes he can talk, but words only can’t solve the issues. If you review the profile of his advisors, you will only find out that they have great ambitious plans that only serve the US interests.
Obama has so far not delivered what he promised, only time will tell as to whether he really deserved all this…
It is too early to honour obama with such a prize. It is supposed to be based on results and to date nothing concrete has been achieved. This has also done poorly to the reputation of Nobel prize.
No I dont think he desereved it ,infact, with so much violence going on where is peace that someone is being awarded Noble Peace Prize.Noble prizes always been controversial and this is no exception.
“WAR IS PEACE.”
George Orwell
It is just a joke….How warlord wins the peace price.
Reasons why Mr Obama should not recieve Nobel
1)US has illegally occupied territory in Iraq
2)US has illegally occupied territory in Afganistan
3)USA has largest WMDs in the world(more than entire countries altogether)
Obama could have changed all this.
He didn’t
So he does NOT deserve PEACE award
Obama did make some initiatives such as trying to shut down Guantanamo bay, stop torture, move out of Iraq, talking to those considered terrorists and looking for a Nuclear free world. Of course he has not succeded in many of his initiatives. For that matter even Nobel peace prize winner Dalai Lama has not succeeded in his initiatives. However one feels that a Nobel is too early for Obama as one needs to see the changes in his policies as he faces resistance. Too many politicians start out as good people, but when they face resistance, they change their core values or make somersaults just to survive in the political field. So Obama needs to be tested further as to whether he has the integrity and follow-through and not just ideas. Some of the scientists who have won the Nobel were given the award after decades of research. Maybe Obama’s should have been give after his presidential tenure is over and we can look back at his real legacy.
I think this Prize is more for hope of what President Obama will do than on any accomplisment .It says a lot about worlds mood after Bush disaster years.This prize gives him incentive to continu to mend relations with Muslim world and do real things which can be measured and not just words.I hope it does help obama to be bold and truthful.
That puts him in line with the likes of Nelson Mandela and Desmund Tutu, people who really suffered to get what they got and made a difference in the world. The prestigious Nobel prize for peace to Obama is preposterous. There are other people who are doing things more worthwhile. He should be judged after his presidency in view of what he dreamt and achieved. This is too premature.
On the same lines, Pakistan should support Edhi, who started from scratch and running a huge trust. Imran Khan, who opened a free cancer hospital for the poor or Shahzad Roy who is using unusual means to raise literacy in this country.
Obama for Nobel peace is just shameful.
It didn’t seem that astonishing initially with all the media hype about Obama. Portraiting him as an angel, who’s mere selection is history, who’s going to liberate the world of famine, hunger, stop the war against terrorism, who’s going to stop the oppression of the poor by the rich.
But, if you think a bit practically what has change? Is all these expectations or even some of them are even near to their destiny? The America is still carrying on its war against terrorism, the poor are still being oppressed by the rich , there is still famine in African countries, G8 is still maneuvering to retain its power and suppress the poor. What has change? Yes , America does have a softer image in the world as compared to that in the era of George Bush and probably that shift in image is the main reason for decorating Mr. Obama with this prize.
If we look at the history of the Nobel Peace Prize , you could find persons with strong impact on society , with a history of involvement in Peace making. But Obama does not full fill any of these condition. Neither Obama had any history of Peace making neither the initiatives made by him are expected to make any strong positive changes in the world. Lets hope this prize , do let him think a bit more from the global peace perspective besides securing American National Interest.
A nobel peace prize is different from the other nobel scientific prizes that it recognizes effort, commitment and resolve rather than succesful result (as in case of science). Why should the president of the most powerful nation (whose defence budget is more than the next ten nations combined)even try to woo the muslim world ?
Right from Indonesia to Cairo, the man is indeed respected for his vision for a better future for the world.
When the americans went into Iraq, he was not a senator. But he did oppose the war right from the start. Pakistan is probably the only place in the world where people dont like Obama (understandably for his Af-Pak policy).
But the betterment of Pakistan lies not in Obama’s Af-Pak Policy but in Pakistan’s own foreign policy/ internal policy !!! It’s one of the few countries in the world without a clear demarcation between it’s foreign and domestic policies.
Pakistan’s destiny is in it’s own hands. If they don’t realize that, then the Kerrys and Lugars of this world will decide it for them.
Bottomline: Obama deserves it, tell me one more person (better than Obama) who tried to make this world a better place this year?
In my opinion, Obama is a charismatic president who commands respect and admiration from many corners of the world. His foreign policy seems to have a far bigger ‘diplomatic cushion’ than his predecessor.
While I support his foreign policy as well as the framework he has set out, only time will tell whether his efforts will prove fruitful. I hope that we can have peace, but most of all I wish that an environment of mutual understanding arises as a result of his presidency.
His presidency has heralded the spirit of diplomacy over that of force – there have been historic ‘icebreakers’, from negotiations with Iran to the decision to close Guantanamo and pull out of Iraq.
Let us hope that things improve.
What a farce! He has hardly been an year in office! Goes on to show what political clout is. I do onot mean to imply that he got himself awarded, rather other forces want to change his course of action. Pres. Obama seems to be heading in the way which some lobbies find detrimental to their cause!
This is farce, this is Odd I fail to see any reason bestowing world most prestigious award to a president who is currently engaged in fighting war on 2 fronts in Afghanistan and Iraq moreover planing to take war to Iran its Ludicrous,
I feel politics has also Infiltrated into Nobel Prize award
this award should have be given to him by the end of his tenure, given he had lived up to his talks,
Action speaks louder than words
Nobel Prize should be awarded on the basis of performance and action not Just on mere Intentions
Regards
As a Muslim American I am proud of the fact that the President Obama got the award. But I am confused as what does Peace means to the west? When Gaza was being bombed daily with US made banned Phosphorous bombs, President Obama did not use his influence on Israel to stop the attacks on unarmed civilians. Almost six months after the brutal campaign two of US closest Alies (Israel and Egypt) are choking Palestinians to death, economically, morally and socially. Israel continues to build settlements in the West Bank, making a mockery of President Obama.
President Obama needs to make tough decisions, otherwise kindly return the Peace Prize with a note that my hands are tied… or I can only make Peace where my friends get the benefit…
It is a victory for those people who believe in human dignity.It is also a warning for the elites politicians of pakistan that people of the world are watching them.It is about time for Pakistani people to get ride of dictators and selfish politicians in a democratic way and help those people who truely believe in serving the country and its people.