Obama Nobel Peace Prize Shocker

President Obama awoke this morning to find out that he is the newest Nobel Peace Prize winner.  Obama in his press conference this morning reports that after receiving the news, his daughter Malia walked in and said “Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is Bo’s birthday.” She added, “Plus, we have a three-day weekend coming up.” It was a sobering reminder for the newest Nobel Prize winner, that there were still domestic chores to attend to.

The announce that President Barak Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize not only surprised Obama but shocked the world as well.  In awarding the Nobel Peace prize to the US President, the Norwegian Nobel Committee highlighted  Obama’s “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” But not everyone is applauding this surprise announcement. While some see the news as promising and anticipate that Obama will try harder to live up to the challenge, others or a bit more skeptical.

The chief peace negotiator  for Palestine Saeb Erekat, see the Nobel Peace Prize as having  positive implications for the Middle East. Leaders of other countries like German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli defense Minister  Ehud Barak  also expressed hope  that Obama’s peace prize will mean world and regional peace and enhanced security. 

Hamas and the Taliban, however, were not quite as optimistic. Others feel that  the granting of the peace prize was immature as Obama has not yet proved he can bring a resolution to the world’s most pressing security problems. However, Obama is probably more accepted around the world as a “can do” leader than in his own United States of America.  As the first African American to hold the Office of  President, he inherited  out of control wars and a struggling economy which has not helped his popularity at home. 

Americans can be proud that their President has won the Nobel Peace Prize, especially those who voted for peace in the last presidential election. The fact that the Nobel Peace Prize committee, prematurely or not, felt that he has what it takes to contribute significantly to world peace, should be an indication to all of us that this is a worthy goal to support.