Collegiate Times

On Oct. 9, it was announced that Barack Obama had received the Nobel Peace Prize. The committee awarded it to him for “creating a new international climate” and “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

Obama very much deserved to win this award, although his win was as much of a surprise to me, as anyone else. I was not aware that he was nominated for this award, but I support the decision. Obama, in the last nine months and before, has worked diligently for international peace through diplomacy.

In the last nine months alone, he has attempted to make progress in the Middle East between the Palestinians and the Israelis, with regards to Iran and its development of a nuclear weapon and dealing with the legacy of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Obama has also worked tirelessly with other world leaders on nuclear disarmament, a significant and alarming issue facing the world today. However, what is just as important is his commitment to hope and change. Obama, with his historic election last November, gave hope to millions of Americans that change was coming and that we could hope for a better future for all. Now, he is sharing such a vision for the world — that we can use diplomacy instead of warfare: Maybe one day we will not fear the use of nuclear weapons during international warfare.

However, this award could also be a political hindrance for Obama. There are many out there who think that Obama does not deserve the prize based on what he has done. They say that he has not accomplished something crucial, such as Roosevelt did when he settled the end of the Russo-Japanese War, or Woodrow Wilson with his effort to form the League of Nations. Nevertheless, the Nobel Peace Prize is not always awarded for what one has done; it also acknowledges the impact made on the world stage based on one’s vision and plan of action. Still, his opponents are likely to use this against him by arguing that he has done little in his first year in office.

Others will argue that the prize was awarded to Obama merely because he is not George Bush, and the committee was just showing its excitement and pleasure that there is a new political air in Washington. However, whether or not this is true, it is irrelevant. Obama has done far more than get elected, although that was a truly amazing accomplishment in itself. He has done the work necessary to win such a prestigious award, and is furthermore grateful and humble in his acceptance.

Obama’s dedication to diplomacy, his work with nuclear proliferation and the hope that his vision brings to the world is more than enough to win this prize. It seems as though many people are using the fact that he has not passed a healthcare bill, which is not necessarily his fault, to defend their claims that he does not deserve this.

Obama has worked hard and done what he can to get Congress to make a decision to pass a bill everyone can agree on. He has told Congress what he wants regarding healthcare reform, and the outcome is now out of his hands.

This is the fault of the system, not of any one person. His political accomplishments were not the only consideration for awarding him this prize, and additionally they may not even have mattered.

What has to be considered is what he has done for the world and the promotion of peace. That is why it is a peace prize.

It is not a political accomplishment prize, or a getting the healthcare bill passed prize; it is all about, and only about the recipient’s efforts to promote peace, which Obama has more than accomplished.