Does Obama really deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?

By Niti

President Barack Obama has created history in numerous ways. To start with, he is the current and the 44 president of the United States. Becoming president alone is an extraordinary accomplishment. Apart from that, Obama became the first African American to win the Democratic nomination. In November he won the President election against Republican candidate John McCain and in January he became the nation’s first African American President. With all of this, you may wonder how can he do more?
Well, on October 9, 2009, President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded every year, and is one of the five Nobel prizes. It has been awarded because of Alfred Nobel, also known as the inventor of dynamite, he wrote in his will that “during the preceding year [...] shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”. It was established in 1895, but it was first awarded in 1901.The Norwegian Nobel Committee states he was awarded “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” In more detail, Obama work in international relations especially reaching out the Muslim world, and his promotion of Nuclear Nonproliferation. With all of that, you may think he is worth of this award.

However, think about it, President Obama had been in office for about 10, now 11 months. Not even one year into his presidency and he is already hailed as a hero. President Obama isn’t the first president to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919 received the price during their terms as president while Jimmy Carter received his prize 21 years after his time in office. Out of all four presidents, President Obama received the award the earliest in the presidency, which may be questionable.
Speaking as a supporter of Obama through the nomination process and of course in the general election, he may not deserve it. Let’s think about it. What has President Obama has done to receive this award? The answer is pretty simple, nothing. The reason for awarding President Obama his prize seems too weak and just too early. After discovering that President Obama had won this prize, I was in shock. After discovering this news, I was not aware of the reason for awarding the prize. I tried to think of some accomplishments Obama had done in his presidency and in the end I couldn’t think of anything. Nothing, it was just way too early. After discussing this in my AP government class, we said maybe that he was awarded not for his peace making abilities but his voice to persuade peace. But that reason still wasn’t a good reason, and we couldn’t compare Obama to the other great who have won. It was too early for us to compare Obama to Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Mother Teresa.

As of now, Obama doesn’t seem to deserve the award. Hopefully, he can now take his “award” as a motivation to promote peace. Hopefully he won’t have any reason to attack a foreign country and maybe one day we can place President Barrack Obama in a category with Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa, so his once questionable award will never be questionable in the future.