The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.
Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.
Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.
For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world’s leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama’s appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges."
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3 comments:
Ken --
This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.
To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.
But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.
That is why I've said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won't all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.
This award -- and the call to action that comes with it -- does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.
So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we've begun together. I'm grateful that you've stood with me thus far, and I'm honored to continue our vital work in the years to come.
Thank you,
President Barack Obama
(A call to action, emailed
Friday, October 9, 2009 3:17 PM)
What a crock of s..t Barack. Or should I say Barack Hodges. Increased "war" spending, refuses to sign disarmament or global warming initiatives, U.S. is still the world's largest arms supplier, the list goes on and on. Even if this award is "a means to give momentum to a set of causes" this is an insult to those who are truly deserving. An insult to those who do rather than just point to rainbows and promise utopia.
Read "WTF? Obama Gets the Nobel Peace Prize" here at this link: http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print/24279/
Also read "Barry In The Bush With Smiles", a great read on the failed, do-nothing, corporatist Obama presidency thus far; http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print/24278/
For the record, I'm not a Republican or a Beckerhead but rather a very disappointed liberal.
I didn't expect much from Obama and haven't been disappointed so far. I anticipated a kinder and gentler Bush -- a Democrat, in other words. Hence my Goldilocks reaction to the award in the previous post.
Afghanistan? Well, I was willing to swallow bitter medicine on that one, but Karzai is corrupt enough to steal an election but not competent enough to pull it off.
But the jury's still out on Obama; he's said some fine things.
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