Robert Naiman has a piece worth reading on the historical precedent for awarding Nobel Peace Prizes to people who's work isn't yet finished:

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama.

Some initial commentary has called the award unprecedented and wondered why the committee would give President Obama the award when he "hasn't done anything yet."

But anyone who thinks this award is unprecedented hasn't been paying attention.

The Nobel Committee gave South African Bishop Desmond Tutu the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his leadership of efforts to abolish apartheid in South Africa. Apartheid wasn't fully abolished in South Africa until 1994. The committee could have waited until after apartheid was abolished to say, "Well done!" But the point of the award was to help bring down apartheid by strengthening Bishop Tutu's efforts. In particular, everyone knew that it was going to be much harder for the apartheid regime to crack down on Tutu after the Nobel Committee wrapped him in its protective cloak of world praise.

There is a lot I disagree with about Obama's foreign policy, as this blog's highlighting of the war in Afghanistan should make clear. However, there is a lot to be encouraged.(*)

Obama is taking a harder line with Israel in an effort to jump-start the peace process. He's engaging with Iran and may have already won preliminary concessions. As Spencer Ackerman notes, he's withdrawing from Iraq, not quickly enough for my tastes, but it's happening. And he's seriously considering not escalating anymore in Afghanistan, while recognizing that the Taliban may be part of the solution. All of these things deserve encouragement.

The prize can also be used as a tool for progressives to help turn Obama's words into actions. The rhetoric surrounding Copenhagen and global warming, not to mention torture and Gitmo, comes to mind.

And of course, this is a powerful statement to America that just choosing a Democrat over a war-hungry Republican in an election can affect the world.(*)

This wasn't an award for a job well done, it was encouragement to do a job well.

CasualObserver, Jim White, JacobFreeze, and advicelibrarian have more opinions.

Your thoughts?





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The Nobel Peace Award appears to have been given to him for his visions.... Congradulations....

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Jollee

I have interesting visions on how to increase penis size.

Where is my prize?

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The only aberration between the most brilliant man and the most deficient idiot are only three letters. Why?