Obama's Nobel

As a former chair of the Nobel Peace Prize committee explained in 2001, the award has always been a political act. In giving it this year to Barack Obama, the committee was endorsing the hope, and relief, felt by millions upon millions around the world at the election of America's new president. The prize was clearly a pointed rebuke to eight years of unilateral recklessness by the Bush administration, which had spurned international organizations and diplomacy, opting instead for preventive war and establishing a network of secret prisons and torture centers. In welcoming Obama's re-embrace of the global community, the committee was, in a way, honoring the millions of Americans who had voted for him--and who, in so doing, have helped redeem America's image.

Did Obama "deserve" this honor? Judging by the conventional standards of accomplishment, the answer is no, of course not, as the president himself acknowledged in his humble acceptance. The committee's official statement insisted otherwise, praising Obama for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy" and attaching "special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons." But a hint of a more strategic purpose was provided by the committee's chair, Thorbjørn Jagland, who said, "It's important for the committee to recognize people who are struggling and idealistic, but we cannot do that every year. We must from time to time go into the realm of realpolitik. It is always a mix of idealism and realpolitik that can change the world." Jagland was signaling the committee's recognition not simply of Obama's promise but of his power--and that of the American people--to turn the world in a more peaceful direction. The award is thus not just a prize but a plea--to the American people as much as to Obama.

So the question for Americans to ask ourselves is, Do we, the people, deserve the prize? Does our country qualify as a peaceful force in the world? Clearly no, not yet. But do we have the capacity to change? To throw off the bellicose pretensions we have assumed as arrogant Goliath so we can develop a web of more rational and fruitful relations with other nations? That is the audacious proposition Obama has so often put on the table during the past nine months. He allows us to envision radical change in the conduct of our nation.

Subscriber Login

User Name

Password

Subscribe Now!

The only way to read this article and the full contents of each week's issue of The Nation online is by subscribing to the magazine. Subscribe now and read this article -- and every article published since for the past five years -- right now.

There's no obligation -- try The Nation for four weeks free.

• Get The Nation at home (and online!) for 68 cents a week!
• If you like this article, consider making a donation to The Nation.
• Reprint this article. Click here for rights and information.