Obama, Nobel Peace Prize
 

What are peoples thoughts?

Personally I think it's too soon into his Presidency to be handing out the prize. I've no doubt that he's done a lot to aid international diplomacy but it's far too early into his term to know how lasting that will be, or how far he will be able to take such developments.

It isn't that he didn't deserve it, but I'm sure there are people out there that deserve it much more. People that have been working at peace for years and years.

Some people devote their lives to it and never get recognition. I think they are the ones that should be given them. I also think just because he is the first black president it doesn't mean he automatically gets a running. I also am no expert, however critics are generally disagreeing with the situation.

bull**** attempt to forestall troop deposits in Afghanistan.

I like Obama but I don't understand what he was doing at the time he was nominated to deserve it since he had only been in office for 12 days when he was nominated..I could see him winning it years from now but it just seems so soon.

That's not why he was in the running, though.

Yeah I know, but it could have been on peoples minds.

I suppose.

Apparently he wasn't even mentioned in the nominations or whoever was running for the Nobel Peace Prize. I assume that means it was just... given to him. Which is horrible.

That's sick. I'm not impressed.

Horrible.

Obama: Nobel Peace Prize is 'call to action' - CNN.com

So... you can win the Nobel Peace Prize for your efforts toward solving problems? ****, someone needs to nominate me! I've been attempting to solve world hunger for years.

Yeah, I'm an Obama supporter all the way. And I think at some point he'll be deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize. But so far he hasn't done anything for it..

Oh yeah, I really want world peace. I want it a lot.


brb readying my acceptance speech.

You're underestimating the complexity of global politics. Very little can be actually solved in a short time span by one person.

the commitee really ****ed up on this one


somewhere right now Alfred Nobel is turning in his grave

It's not that he dosen't deserve it, it's just that... He dosen't f*cking deserve it.

Oh so he's trying to improve foreign relations, as if no other president ever f*cking tried that before. Seriously, I thought the Nobel Prize was for actual achievements, not for trying to make a difference.

I'm not an Obama basher or anything, but this is where the Obama ass kissing train needs to stop.

the amount of alternate candidates suggested by you guys is impressive! I mean, most people are just saying Obama didn't deserve the prize without anyone better in mind, but you guys are clearly different.

first peaceful black man, holllaaaaaaaa.

He got elected into office on the platform of hope so it would only make sense that he wins this prestigious award for trying to make a difference.

Doesn't work that way. The Committee can, and has, declined to award the prize in specific years due to a lack of "suitable candidates".

so making steps to quell the animosity of other nations towards the US through diplomacy isn't enough? Jeez. I'm not saying he's done the most, but I'm pretty sure he's done enough.

Well yes, by your expectation of "enough". I'm simply saying that my expectation of "enough" would be changes that prove to be lasting (i.e. you can't tell if that is the case before the year is out) and/or a significant and continued contribution towards global peace. The fact of the matter is that the definition of the Nobel Peace Prize is that it's towards an individual for acts in the preceding year. Obama was elected at the end of November '08 and didn't officially take office until early '09. It is therefore arguably implausible that the actions he took in the preceding year to this had a significant enough effect on global peace to justify his winning.

Excerpt from the Will of Alfred Nobel

"shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind."

I was being facetious. :)

That quote seems to set out the guideline that the winner should have done the most work in his or her respective field, not a specific amount.

He deserves it for finally handling a race issue the way it's meant to be handled: with beer.

obama article
 

that "call to action" bit was interesting then the author kept mentioning obama's priority to eliminate nuclear weapons. im not saying the president is gonna use that peace prize for any political influence although it doesnt help...not a bad way to start your presidency.

So he ran a sly presidential campaign, why is that worthy of a nobel prize?

I think it's hard for americans to see why we think Obama is important. America is a huge nation and from over here, it's a little unsettling to see all those people and all that power under a president like Bush. Relations between America and european nations have been stressed in Bush's period, so it's important now that you guys have a president who seems to care about foreign politics, someone who seems to work with and promote cooperation rather than work against (ex. war on Iraq, failure to sign the Kyoto protocol).

Well said, Tore.

Refreshing to get somebody's point of view from across the pond.

The Peace Prize has been a joke for a very long time, what else is new?

To be honest, I would have never imagined someone from Sweden saying that.

He's not a normal Swede. He is... otherworldly in nature.

fixed.

:clap:

Come on - Alfred Nobel was swedish, but the prize is handed out in Norway and Norway is also the country known for the fjords. ;)

Sweden is known for it's blonde girls and safe cars.

Trivia: The reason Alfred Nobel put the Peace Prize in the hands of the Norwegians instead of the Swedes like the other rewards was that it was a more political prize, he he felt that the Norwegians could be more unbiased than the Swedes because they didn't have a foreign policy at the time (they were in a union with Sweden, and only had control of some domestic affairs).

Anyway, the Peace Prize has always gone with the trends of the day, hardly taking into account if the laureates' work will have long-term benefits. The other five prices are by all means more respectable, although I don't always agree with their handling of the literature or economic prizes (that they gave the latter to Milton Friedman says everything).

I think the most interesting trivia about the nobel prize is really why we have it.

Alfred Nobel was the inventor of dynamite .. That's common knowledge here, but maybe not overseas. Anyways, the story goes that his obituary was wrongfully published before his death and that it condemned him for his contribution to weaponry and new ways to kill people. Maybe he felt he deserved it or thought he had some bad karma going. Either way, he didn't want to be remembered just as the inventor of something that made war possible in new and destructive ways, so he used his resources to set up the Nobel Prizes to be awarded annually after his death.

It sounds a bit like he was forced to by his guilty conscience :p: Good man, though, that Alfred.

Yeah, people should cut Alfred a break, he invented dynamite with noble intentions, sure he should have known better and realised people would make a weapon out of it, but mankind can make a weapon out of anything.

Remember, the guy who invented the television had great intentions too, he intended for it to be a great educational tool, so you can't hate the guy just because he didn't foresee the horror that is reality TV.

And Ikea...sweet, sweet, Ikea.

honeslty, I think I have more trouble differentiating the nordic countries than I do the countrys that bore out of the Eastern Bloc.