More Than Just an Award

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to President Barrack Obama for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Although the committee honored global efforts of President Barrack Obama, he saw the nomination as a “call to action” rather than a gratification of his success. Not only does the Nobel Peace Prize put an extraordinary amount of pressure on President Obama, but the award also forces the focus of United States improvement to the field of humanitarianism rather than more pressing issues.

According to an article at http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/09/nobel.peace.prize/index.html, President Obama was “deeply surprised and humbled by the decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award him the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.” The Norwegian Nobel Committee nominated the Peace Prize to the ideas and aspirations of President Barrack Obama, not to the successes and actions of his administration. President Obama and the American people were bewildered by the Nobel Peace Prize nomination since Barrack Obama has not been in office long enough to bring about drastic changes.

The article also states, “The committee is essentially saying, ‘stay at it, Mr. President. You have our prestige behind you now,’”. President Obama can do nothing but accept the Nobel Peace Prize as an honorable award, even though the award will become more of a hindrance than an aide. Since the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was more an award of potential for Barrack Obama rather than long-term accomplishments, there is much responsibility and liability upon acceptance of this award. The pressure of this award at such a new stage in his Presidency may drive President Obama to reach the goals that earned him the award. On the other hand, President Obama may feel obligated to place other proposals and issues below humanitarianism; he would be concerned with filling out his duties of Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

President Obama “inherited” numerous national and global issues that were placed into his hands by the people to repair. Americans looked to President Obama to use his vast knowledge to improve the economy by pulling the U.S. out of a recession. The burdens of the “War on Terror” were also placed on the shoulders of President Obama as he was sworn into office. The future of health care in America is another issue that President Obama must handle. While President Obama is attempting to fix the economy, reform health care, handle the War on Terror, and maintain citizen approval, he also must handle a new set of issues and responsibilities of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Although President Obama is a highly deserving candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee didn’t allow President Obama to carry out his proposals before nominating him for the award. The Committee states that “Only 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," the committee said. President Obama, indeed, captured the world’s attention and inspired hope into the minds of many Americans, but the Nobel Peace Prize should be awarded to him after he has had a chance to act on his inspirations. The pressure of the Nobel Peace Prize may interrupt President Obama’s initial plans of action for America.

According to the article “Obama: Nobel Peace Prize is ‘call of action’” states , “the Nobel Committee recognized Obama's efforts at dialogue to solve complex global problems, including working toward a world free of nuclear weapons. President Obama has made many global efforts to bring peace to the world, but those efforts were not the extent of his plans. President Obama was surprised by the nomination of the Nobel Peace Prize, meaning that he was planning to do more.

As seen in the cartoon above, awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama so early in his presidency is like handing an Olympic runner a gold medal before completing the race. There is potential that the runner could win the gold medal, but in order to truly appreciate its honor, it must be earned through long and arduous efforts. President Obama is clearly not at fault for winning the Nobel Peace Prize, but the Nobel Committee gave him the honor rather than awarded it to him. If the Nobel Committee had waited until President Obama’s proposed plans became successful actions, there would be little to no confusion in his or the American peoples’ eyes as to why he was given the award.

Lindsay Matthews