Shannon KeoughIf you have been anywhere besides under a rock in the past couple of weeks, then you know that President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Obama’s winning sparked an outcry from people all around the world, both in support and opposition.
I feel that Obama will certainly be deserving of the prize eventually, but his being awarded this year is a bit premature.
Compared to winners in previous years and also past presidents who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, Obama simply comes up short.
Jimmy Carter, who was awarded the Peace Prize in 2002, was given the prize in recognition of decades of untiring effort to strive for world peace. If you didn’t catch it the first time, Carter put in decades of effort while Obama has not even put in a year.
Names such as Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela, Obama’s fellow prize winners, seem to be much more worthy of the prize, as they have been poster children for world peace.
Don’t get me wrong, I am an Obama supporter and back him 100 percent in his presidency, but let’s be real- past winners have dedicated years of their lives to world peace while Obama has been in office for less than a year and was awarded the prize because he has honorable thoughts about promoting world peace.
Sure, Obama can certainly talk the talk, but words are just words unless action is shown. Obama was awarded the prize for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
Putting forth effort is great, but we are talking about the Nobel Peace Prize here. I think it is necessary for him to have shown extraordinary action, rather than just extraordinary effort. In this case, actions most definitely speak louder than words and I am not seeing much action on Obama’s part.
If this is not evidence enough, Obama himself even said that he did not deserve the award. In the biggest pool of candidates ever, it is both surprising and shocking that Obama was given the prize.
It may be just me, but when I think of the Nobel Peace Prize, I think of one of the most prestigious honors a person can ever receive. I think of people of great genius and accomplishment. But when I think of Obama at this point in time, those words do not exactly come to mind.
All of this is not to say that Obama is not deserving of the award. He is, just not right now. After all, he was voted to win the prize through a unanimous vote.
