Obama’s Nobel Peace Problem
Winning the Nobel prize certainly has not been a help to Obama. In fact, it has been a bit of an albatross for him. Winning the prize did not give him any boost among those those against our two-front war. However, for those who see the war as necessary (no one is ever actually “for” a war, but people do support the reasons for its continued prosecution), it seemed a confirmation on the global stage that Obama does not have the fortitude to lead us during this difficult time.
Which is why this morning Obama gave the strangest Peace Prize acceptance speech ever.
I don’t think anyone knew what to make of it: a peace prize acceptance speech focusing on the reasons why military action sometimes is the only response to certain threats. That some people can’t be talked to, can’t be reasoned with, but must be dealt with nonetheless. I am sure the room was full of dropped jaws.
Back home, after sifting through all the rhetoric, the issues for Obama boil down to two:
One, no one in the US understands exactly what Obama did (or didn’t do) to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. And if you read the reasons given by the Nobel selection committee, it seems they really don’t either:
“Obama has as President 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. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.”
You read it and the cheers of “Here here!” are quickly followed by confused expressions of “Um, what did he say…?”
Two, though the average American might not be able to articulate it as succinctly, there is a omnipresent, nagging feeling that if the rest of the world likes Obama that much, then he must not be doing his job.
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