The Nobel Peace Prize Committee and Its Advance Award

This is probably the swiftest of the Nobel Prizes: Obama has only been president for nine months, and already--boom!--1.4 million dollars prize money and an honor for the rest of his life.

I am not against it, but it seems like the Obamamania that shook the United States (the first African American elected president) as a habit has spread to the Europeans: what is good for America is just awesome for Europe, not to mention for the rest of the world.

In all, there were 172 people and 33 organizations nominated.

Fine, he’s a peacekeeper. Rather, he’s a superdiplomat. As the Nobel Commission put it: “Obama's diplomacy is based on the concept that the people who should rule the world, should do so based on the values and positions, which are shared by most of the world's population.”

I personally like the concept. Especially when applied to the diplomatic steps, which Obama was able to make in less than a year. He didn’t accomplish much, but he tried: He declared the failure of the foreign policies of the former President George W. Bush. Good, the words have been spoken. But thus far, that is all.

Promised to start a dialogue with the Muslim world? Good, but that is just a promise. Presented his plan to withdraw troops from Iraq? However, he withdrew no one. Talked about the necessity of world stability and started to increase the military operation in Afghanistan--5,000 more soldiers will be deployed. And is trying to drag us into this mess. On top of that, it seems he’s planning to seriously deal with Iran. Declined placing AMBs in Europe in order to make the system more modern by placing them in ships, thus making it mobile. And on land, he’s planning to place them in Ukraine.

In general, reward whomever you want and with whatever you want, dear Nobel committee members. But somehow it’s better to present the reward for action and not just for good looks and pretty words. Of course, you don’t have to get used to showing reverence to the United States (in all fields of science and culture, for which a Nobel is presented). In recent years, there has been too much confusion over the award: to whom it is to be awarded, that many of the discoveries were made by other people in different countries and that these discoveries were made very long ago.

Sometimes it seems that the discussion of the candidates is conducted secretly because they are not looking for real achievement, but mull over how to best present to the world something that is considered quite minor. That is why the representative of the committee was joyful when he talked about Obama’s merits, but also, somewhat embarrassed. What is there to do--he had to make up for it somehow. I pity him.

Obama, to his credit, by the way, was also shocked by the award when he was awakened with the news at five in the morning. And being clearly embarrassed, said that he regards it as a huge honor.

For comparison with the nine-month creative biography of Obama, let me remind you that this prize--the prize of peace--in different years was awarded to: Swiss Jean Henri Dunant, founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross; U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, one of the founders of the Treaty of Versailles, signed after the First World War, and the one who inspired the League of Nations; Fridtjof Nansen, for his many years of helping defenseless; fighter for the rights of Negroes, Martin Luther King, shot for his activities; Mother Teresa; Mikhail Gorbachev and the academician Andrei Sakharov. It isn’t necessary to remind everyone who they are and discuss their right to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. There are many, and not one of them received this award in advance.