The story that has taken over every conversation this week is about President Barak Obama winning a Nobel peace prize. Many news networks are running specials on the issue because the country seems to be divided about the issue like anything else Obama associates with. There are many questions floating around which include some of the following. Does Obama deserve a Nobel Peace Price? What has he done to earn the coveted Price? And finally could his Icon status have influenced the decision to award him such an honor? I have been reading many articles on the situation to get a better understanding so I will attempt to put some thoughts of mine on paper in order to shed some light on the matter and share my thoughts with my class mates.
American Presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter have won the Nobel Peace Prize before, but the Obama winning has raised many talking points around the world. According to an article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, leaders from around the world expressed some disagreement for the Nobel Committee’s pick (L, Waterman 2009). The opposition stated their case almost as soon as the decision and the winner were announced. The hardest thing to understand was the opposition including some unexpected people who oppose the decision such as the Republican National Committee and Some Democratic party Representatives as well as some understandable once such as Taliban leader and some other terrorist organizations. The decision created a national debate about if the president really earned the prize and what the outcome would be. CNN held the debate on almost every show they had that day and even when to the people on the street to get some reactions. One article on CNN.com read, (Is Obama's Nobel a blessing or curse?). I don’t think that people really think it is a cure for the man to win the award, but I think the president will have some big shoes to fill. As the old saying goes, “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility” I think it was Yoda from Star Wars that said that line, but I think the president has to commit to bringing peace to this world the best he can.
President Obama has been working tirelessly since his election to bridge the communication gap between world leaders and American leaders as well as bring about a solution to the nuclear arms race. As in the past Prize recognitions, I think the Nobel committees are paying attention to what the president’s intentions are versus what he currently accomplished. Past recipients of the award reflect my point. Take Theodore Roosevelt for example, he won the same award while the country was in a confused state of mind and his winning was a symbol of recognizing his intentions to bring the country together and bring peace to the world starting with America. Furthermore, Yasser Arafat won the coveted prize in 1994 with the Prime Minister of Israel Shimon Perez to symbolize the peace process that they both intended on achieving (Nobel Prize archives 2009). I personally think the move was a much necessary one because the peace efforts that allowed President Obama to win the most recognize award in the world has a promising future and people should focus more on how to bring the peace than worry about if he deserved it or not. The main question should be are the right intentions there?
References
Henry, E. (2009, October 10). Henry: Is Obama's Nobel a blessing or curse? . Retrieved January 1,, from CNN Politics: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/10/obama.nobel.ed.henry/
(2004, November 6). Jewish Virtual Library: Yasser Arafat. Retrieved October 9, 2009, from American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/arafat.html
Waterman, L. W. (2009, October 10). Minneapolis, Star tribune: President Obama Wins the Nobel Peace Prize. Retrieved October 11, 2009, from Minneapolis Star Tribune: http://www.startribune.com/yourvoices/63941557.html?elr=KArks:DCiUo3PD:3D_V_qD3L:c7cQKUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
(n.d.). The Nobel Prizes Internet Archive: Nobel Prize Winners 1901-2009. Retrieved October 9, 2009, from Nobel Peace Prize and Commitee: http://nobelprizes.com/nobel/peace/peace.html
American Presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter have won the Nobel Peace Prize before, but the Obama winning has raised many talking points around the world. According to an article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, leaders from around the world expressed some disagreement for the Nobel Committee’s pick (L, Waterman 2009). The opposition stated their case almost as soon as the decision and the winner were announced. The hardest thing to understand was the opposition including some unexpected people who oppose the decision such as the Republican National Committee and Some Democratic party Representatives as well as some understandable once such as Taliban leader and some other terrorist organizations. The decision created a national debate about if the president really earned the prize and what the outcome would be. CNN held the debate on almost every show they had that day and even when to the people on the street to get some reactions. One article on CNN.com read, (Is Obama's Nobel a blessing or curse?). I don’t think that people really think it is a cure for the man to win the award, but I think the president will have some big shoes to fill. As the old saying goes, “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility” I think it was Yoda from Star Wars that said that line, but I think the president has to commit to bringing peace to this world the best he can.
President Obama has been working tirelessly since his election to bridge the communication gap between world leaders and American leaders as well as bring about a solution to the nuclear arms race. As in the past Prize recognitions, I think the Nobel committees are paying attention to what the president’s intentions are versus what he currently accomplished. Past recipients of the award reflect my point. Take Theodore Roosevelt for example, he won the same award while the country was in a confused state of mind and his winning was a symbol of recognizing his intentions to bring the country together and bring peace to the world starting with America. Furthermore, Yasser Arafat won the coveted prize in 1994 with the Prime Minister of Israel Shimon Perez to symbolize the peace process that they both intended on achieving (Nobel Prize archives 2009). I personally think the move was a much necessary one because the peace efforts that allowed President Obama to win the most recognize award in the world has a promising future and people should focus more on how to bring the peace than worry about if he deserved it or not. The main question should be are the right intentions there?
References
Henry, E. (2009, October 10). Henry: Is Obama's Nobel a blessing or curse? . Retrieved January 1,, from CNN Politics: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/10/obama.nobel.ed.henry/
(2004, November 6). Jewish Virtual Library: Yasser Arafat. Retrieved October 9, 2009, from American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/arafat.html
Waterman, L. W. (2009, October 10). Minneapolis, Star tribune: President Obama Wins the Nobel Peace Prize. Retrieved October 11, 2009, from Minneapolis Star Tribune: http://www.startribune.com/yourvoices/63941557.html?elr=KArks:DCiUo3PD:3D_V_qD3L:c7cQKUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
(n.d.). The Nobel Prizes Internet Archive: Nobel Prize Winners 1901-2009. Retrieved October 9, 2009, from Nobel Peace Prize and Commitee: http://nobelprizes.com/nobel/peace/peace.html
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