President Obama is the 2009 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." The decision appeared to catch observers by surprise.
Obama winning the Nobel Prize has not been as welcoming as one would think, here in the Unites States. Last week, the media flooded news of why it is an akward moment for him to win the prize.
This is what I got from CNN.COM-
"Obama is fortunate that his Nobel Prize comes much earlier in his presidency. The Nobel Prize Committee granted the award to President Obama for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
The secretary of the Nobel Prize Committee stated that Obama's achievement has been to shift the international climate toward issues such as diplomacy and negotiation, arms control and disarmament, multilateral institutions, as well as democracy and human rights.
The good news for President Obama is that while he has had a tough few months in office, he still enjoys strong approval ratings in the U.S. and, as the award indicates, has significant prestige abroad. In other words, even after all the town hall meetings and the challenges with his agenda, expectations remain high about what this president can do.
The president enters a period when he will be making critical decisions that will help shape the "international climate." He will need to decide how strongly to push for climate control legislation, what to do about the requests for more troops in Afghanistan, how to handle counterterrorism policy with regard to issues such as the closure of Guantanamo, and how to respond to Iran's nuclear program.
As he makes these decisions, this award can serve as a powerful reminder about what his supporters were hoping he could achieve, and as a source of energy to pursue those goals. In his speech on Friday, Obama indicated that he was thinking in these terms. He said: "I will accept this award as a call to action -- a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century."
When Woodrow Wilson died in 1924, he understood all too well how devastating dashed expectations could be for a presidency. "I am a broken piece of machinery," he said on his deathbed. In Wilson's case, the Nobel Prize only amplified the limits of what he had been able to accomplish in the White House and the promises he had broken along the way.
In President Obama's case, the award comes much earlier in his tenure and can serve a very different function, offering a compass to guide him as he makes critical decisions about national security in the weeks ahead."
The secretary of the Nobel Prize Committee stated that Obama's achievement has been to shift the international climate toward issues such as diplomacy and negotiation, arms control and disarmament, multilateral institutions, as well as democracy and human rights.
The good news for President Obama is that while he has had a tough few months in office, he still enjoys strong approval ratings in the U.S. and, as the award indicates, has significant prestige abroad. In other words, even after all the town hall meetings and the challenges with his agenda, expectations remain high about what this president can do.
The president enters a period when he will be making critical decisions that will help shape the "international climate." He will need to decide how strongly to push for climate control legislation, what to do about the requests for more troops in Afghanistan, how to handle counterterrorism policy with regard to issues such as the closure of Guantanamo, and how to respond to Iran's nuclear program.
As he makes these decisions, this award can serve as a powerful reminder about what his supporters were hoping he could achieve, and as a source of energy to pursue those goals. In his speech on Friday, Obama indicated that he was thinking in these terms. He said: "I will accept this award as a call to action -- a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century."
When Woodrow Wilson died in 1924, he understood all too well how devastating dashed expectations could be for a presidency. "I am a broken piece of machinery," he said on his deathbed. In Wilson's case, the Nobel Prize only amplified the limits of what he had been able to accomplish in the White House and the promises he had broken along the way.
In President Obama's case, the award comes much earlier in his tenure and can serve a very different function, offering a compass to guide him as he makes critical decisions about national security in the weeks ahead."
So basically, evrybody is wondering why he got the prize so early in his Presidential Career and also at a time when things are not really in shape. But here is a point ot think about, what if the state of the Economy was not in as a bad shape as it is now and what if there was no war in Iraq and Afghanistan? Would he be worthy of winning the Prize at that time. The reason for him winning this orestiguous prize is basically for his undying efforts of brining the economy back in to shape, try to resolve the war and many other issues.
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