Blog 4

And The Nobel Peace Prize Goes To….. Obama?

This weekend you may have heard about the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to President Barack Obama for the honor of… well that can be debated and you can get different answers depending on who you ask. You see President Obama was given the award for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” but many critics are saying that this is quite a stretch of a statement for a very young presidency and the little amount of time that Obama has been in office. The author gives the example that “Mr. Obama seemed wrapped in gratitude for his willingness to listen and negotiate, as well as for his positions on climate change and nuclear disarmament.” However Obama’s opponents disagree and point out that little if not anything has been done on the front of nuclear disarmament citing Iran’s ambitions to become a nuclear superpower and the revelation of secret uranium enrichment facilities recently discovered. Some of his critics even go as far as stating that he was given the award for just not being former President George Bush and others for being the first black president in the United States. Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in an official statement, “The real question Americans are asking is, ‘What has President Obama actually accomplished?’ “

The President’s supporters would argue that he has been sidetracked with the Economy and the fact that our financial system has not failed is an accomplishment in itself. France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy stated the award marked “America’s return to the hearts of the world’s peoples,” while Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said it was an “incentive to the president and to us all” to do more for peace. The President said that he was extremely surprised and had only learned of the honor after being awoken at 6:00 in the morning by staffers who conveyed the news. President Obama now joins the ranks with other sitting American presidents to be given the award such as Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, for negotiating an end to a war between Russia and Japan, Woodrow Wilson in 1919, for the Treaty of Versailles, Jimmy Carter for his efforts on peace and development as well as Al Gore for his role in spreading awareness of Global Warming and climate change.

The author establishes Social Significance by outlining that the President has been given one of the most predigest awards of our society and is accompanied by previous winners such as “world leaders like Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who won for helping end the cold war, and Nelson Mandela, who sought an end to apartheid.” He also brings relevancy to the article by writing a compelling argument as to it being up to the reader to decide the ultimate conclusion based on their personal views.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html