Commentary: The Real Reason President Obama Won the Nobel Peace Prize
The Real Reason Obama Won the Nobel Peace Prize
From the outset, I concede that I was a surprised as anyone else including YOU and President Obama.
As an American, I’m happy that our President won. Personally, my own opinion would be that it is easily arguable at best that it was an honor given at least a year too soon. However, after reading what the founder of the award said who he intended the award to be for, I easily could see how the Nobel committee “UNANIMOUSLY” voted for our president.
In his 1895 will, Alfred Nobel stipulated that the peace prize should go “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses.”
Unfortunately, many are uneducated as to what specifically the award is “actually” for and rather use prevailing opinion as to who should be eligible for the award. And contrary those who also have extended this great honor, it was NOT intended for those fighting disease, poverty, etc, and was not the original purpose or intent.
The committee has taken a wide interpretation of Nobel’s guidelines, expanding the prize beyond peace mediation to include efforts to combat poverty, disease and climate change.
A 25-nation poll of 27,000 people released in July by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found double-digit boosts to the percentage of people viewing the U.S. favorably in countries around the world.
1. In July talks in Moscow, Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed that their negotiators would work out a new limit on delivery vehicles for nuclear warheads of between 500 and 1,100. They also agreed that warhead limits would be reduced from the current range of 1,700-2,200 to as low as 1,500. The United States now has about 2,200 such warheads, compared to about 2,800 for the Russians.
2. Former Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, said Obama has already provided outstanding leadership in the effort to prevent nuclear proliferation.
