Peace Prizes Come Cheap These Days

On October 9th, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that President Barack Obama was the selection for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination process ended February 1st, just 12 days after the inauguration. Obama’s selection for the award came as a tremendous shock to many people. According to the Nobel Committee, Obama was chosen “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

What did Obama accomplish to be worthy of such praise? Did he have any notable accomplishments in the realm of international diplomacy as a community organizer or as a state legislator? What were his major achievements on the world stage during his two active years in the U.S. Senate or during the two years he spent on the campaign trail? What outstanding global progress did he make during his first 12 days as President?

In short, what did Obama do to deserve this award? Why limit that question to simply the Nobel Peace Prize though? What did Obama do to deserve the Presidency? The answer to both of those questions is nothing. How, out of 205 nominees, Barack Obama was the most deserving of all will forever remain a mystery. The names of the other nominees remain a secret for 50 years. Certainly there were people more deserving than Obama. What about Rev. Rick Warren, Dr. Gordon Klatt (the man who started Relay for Life), and Tony Dungy? Are they (and others like them) not more deserving than Obama?

To be clear, the fact that Obama is the third Democrat President or Vice President to win the Nobel Peace Prize this decade is not the issue. This is not a matter of party politics, nor is it an advocacy that any particular conservative(s) win the award. The simple fact is: Barack Obama (in 2009) is unworthy of that prize.

When the nomination process concluded in February, the Somali pirate incident had not yet occurred. Captain Phillips’ rescue by the Navy SEALS (no thanks to Obama) didn’t happen until April. When the nomination process concluded, the North Korean hostage incident had not yet occurred either. It was in August that FORMER President Bill Clinton secured the release of the two American journalists (also no thanks to Obama).

What accomplishments did Obama make on the world stage before his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize? I remember two in particular. During the campaign, he drew a large crowd to hear him speak at the Berlin Wall. That was a big story. Also, his very first act as President was to reverse the Global Gag Rule, so that some of our tax dollars are sent to pay for abortions and abortion-related services in foreign countries. Do either of those make him a worthy of winning the Nobel Peace Prize? No.

Obama has not ended the War in Iraq, nor has he made major efforts to help end the genocide in Darfur. The man is presiding over two wars and he does not appear to be actively engaged in peace efforts elsewhere. Since Obama has no great diplomatic accomplishments to speak of, it is likely that his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize was made with the assumption that by the time the award was given, he would have something to show for. That assumption did not come true. This is not to say, however, that the President will be unworthy of the prize in the future.

Fast-forward to the end of the Obama Presidency. Pretend that Barack has ended the War in Iraq and that conditions are stable there; he has facilitated significant ground being gained for peace between Israel and Palestine; he has made efforts to improve relations between India and Pakistan; and he has worked to denuclearize Iran and North Korea. Pretend Obama has done even one or two of those things by the end of his tenure. If he accomplished that, I would hand him the award myself. In 2009, however, President Obama has done nothing to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.

Also, notice that he did not win the Prize for Economic Sciences. Although it is not officially a ‘Nobel’ Prize, a Prize for Economic Sciences is awarded by Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden’s central bank) in Alfred Nobel’s memory. Obama is arguably less qualified to win this award than he is to win the Nobel Peace Prize, which is saying something. Seven months after the Obama stimulus was enacted, 49 out of 50 states have lost jobs. The President told us that the program would create 3.5 million jobs. Instead, 2.7 million jobs have been lost (not the change Americans hoped for). Obama was only off by 6.2 million. He did inherit the economic mess, but by making it worse, it is no wonder that he did not win the Economic Sciences award!

Awards are not meant to be anticipatory. They are supposed to be recognitions of accomplishments already made. What if sports leagues gave out awards to people who were only anticipated to succeed, but who did not actually deliver? Take the NFL for instance. What if the NFL gave out awards in this manner? The Super Bowl Champion for the 2009-2010 season could be the Tennessee Titans. They were supposed to be good, but have they actually shown that this year? No! With the same token, Jim Zorn could be the Coach of the Year, Michael Crabtree could be the Rookie of the Year, and superstar Brady Quinn could be the MVP.

The fact that Obama was selected as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is degrading to past winners who actually deserve the award. It is one thing to give the prize to people like Martin Luther King Jr., Eli Wiesel, and Mother Theresa. Those past winners are almost universally recognized as being worthy of the honor bestowed them. However, we now live in a world where Barack Obama is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and Mohandas Gandhi is not.

Despite being nominated five times, Gandhi never received the award (posthumous awards are prohibited by the statues). In 1948, following Gandhi’s death, the committee opted not to give out the award that year, stating that “there was no suitable living candidate.” Apparently, this year’s committee found Barack Obama to be a suitable candidate. The mentality behind such a decision will forever remain a mystery.