High Hopes
On Friday, October 9th, 2009, ‘The Norwegian Nobel Committee’ has decided to award the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people”. Reactions for such nomination have varied between welcoming and fury among people not only inside the U.S.A. but also worldwide. I am concerned by going behind the nomination in this post.
War and Peace
I believe people every where are looking for avoiding War and achieving Peace that is accompanied by Justice; something that we are lacking for since World War II. This was the main reason for establishing the U.N. in 1945 however it has not been achieved for many reasons that can be summed-up into the vision of people towards the future and how it is reflected on the ground in terms of strategies and action plans.
Rise and Fall
During the past decade(s), many nations rendered a negative political image of the United Stats which went dramatically to the bottom rock in the past 8 years due to the impact of the strategy implemented by successive administration(s) that affected other nations worldwide in the different fields of ‘Politics’, ‘Geopolitics’, ‘Economy’, ‘Climatic Change’, ‘Nuclear Disarmament’, ‘Arms Conduct’, ‘Terrorism’, ‘Democracy’ and ‘Human Rights’.
Nevertheless since he ran for presidential elections, Obama caught the attention of the globe by a ‘new language’ as a politician that aims to change this beside the main issues that are important to any American citizen at home who are not concerned about global-politics.
The implementation of such ‘new language’ that Obama is speaking before and after running for presidency has straight impact on the previously mentioned issues which became vital in the 21st century, and simply this is -in my opinion- why the nomination literally came after 11 days of his residence in the While House as President and before 4 months of his speech in Cairo to the Muslim World in June 4th, 2009 which shaped many aspects of his strategy.
But ...
On the ground, we still have 2 open wars in ‘Iraq’ and ‘Afghanistan’ that has no meaning from the beginning. I may understand that they are the legacy of Bush Administration but this means more death tolls for nothing particular. On the other hand, talking about Middle East Conflict, maybe it can not be solved that simple after more than 60 years however the very basic thing is not to ignore the way Israel is dealing there; I may understand that there are problems among the Palestinians but any human being can not ignore that there is no particular reason for the Israeli actions especially during Lebanon War (2006), Gaza War (2008/2009) & same goes for other occupied land so it is important to see the situation clearly.
People not Icons
Humans are always looking for good people who guide them for achieving noble things and this is rooted in the subconscious of people regardless the culture via literature in case it is not achieved on ground.
So despite understanding the enthusiasm of the noble committee to urge Obama on following up with his strategy, I am afraid that this can be nothing more than making an ‘icon’ unless every body -especially leaders- stand up for their responsibility to achieve a better situation after many decades of downfall on the human level.
Responsibilities
Maybe it is not that clear for many people however I see Obama -as personnel- has already been placed as a remark in the human history. However I am aware that ruling USA is not a ‘one man show’ but rather is a constitutional framework that has many branches which means more responsibilities and pressure to be placed on the administration’s shoulder after this prize. Nevertheless I think this responsibility is distributed among all of the leaders not only Obama because he is only the 44th president of the United States not of every single nation.
Consequently, to achieve what this prize aims to support, there are thousand miles everybody has to go before they sleep. This simply means more cooperation between people which we have not seen yet in the past decades by any means in terms of politics and its impact on the ground in the issues mentioned up. Such cooperation can not be done unless people are aware about understanding each other, as I wrote 3 years ago in I-MAG Magazine.
In a nutshell, this is what I believe as the real message behind such nomination or else we shall discover that we are just reading another good novel. Future shall tell us and hopefully not!
“The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.” ~ [Emile Zola]
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on October 11, 2009 | 4:15 PM
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October 12th, 2009 @ 02:10
My first reaction, when I heard President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, was why? The country he rules, along with our Congress, is at war on two continents. I have since read articles that suggest Obama was given the award in hopes that he would now be obligated to continue to pursue the goals of peace. As an American, I would love to feel proud that my President received this prestigious award. But to be perfectly honest, as a citizen, I haven’t seen completion or fulfillment of any of his promises so far. That isn’t to say that none will ever be achieved. But, we have had many good Presidents who achieved a lot more in the same period of time than Obama has accomplished thus far. I am a little disappointed, but still praying he comes through on his promises to the American people.
Lea´s last blog ..Be aware, not afraid
October 15th, 2009 @ 22:55
Lea, I understand this and sharing you the same prayers however I am still wondering where this might lead us everywhere!
October 12th, 2009 @ 13:53
That is a rational and balanced post… I still see that it is too early, even if they wanna encourage him they should have wanted another year. It doesn’t look good that soon.
http://mohaly.blogspot.com/2009/10/613-nobel-goes-to.html
Mohaly´s last blog ..614) FUN ::: 2ew3a Teza3al Meratak !!
October 15th, 2009 @ 22:58
Mohaly, In the matter of fact, I was also surprised by this nomination however I am still affriad as I told in the post.
October 14th, 2009 @ 10:12
Thank you for an informative and thought provoking post. While Barack Obama may not have achieved much that is tangible as yet, he is certainly at least as worthy as some previous recipients of the Nobel Peace Price such as Henry Kissinger and FW De Klerk.
I would like to think Obama’s award has been made to the American people as much as to Obama himself. I found his election to be a truly inspiring event; to even imagine a black president was inconceivable not so long ago. Obama is an inspiring orator and projects a very strong commitment to social justice and reform. This award is about hope more than anything else.
Liam´s last blog ..#qanda & Twitter | The Future Of TV?
October 15th, 2009 @ 23:01
Liam, the change in the way of thinking that ‘Americans’ achieved by electing President Obama is in itself great because the same nation elected President Bush for 2 terms of 4 years each however where this might go is the question too as it’s all about responsibilites.
October 14th, 2009 @ 20:29
An insightful and interesting post about this subject. As a Norwegian, I see both sides: Both that he has not achieved much yet, but also that The Committee endorses Obama’s appeal that “Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.” I guess the committee wants to support him and also put a pressure on him as well as focus on that for the rest of the worlds leaders.
My post about it, is to be red here – thanks for your comment on it!
RennyBA’s Terella´s last blog ..Oslo Blog Gathering 2010 Preview
October 15th, 2009 @ 23:03
Renny, I guess so too and see the both sides like you’ve done. Exactly responsibilities is the cornerstone for everything and personally I was surprised by the nomination itself. Of course, I enjoyed your article a lot so thanks for sharing it with my readers.