WASHINGTON: In a stunning decision that caused worldwide dropping of jaws, the Swedish Nobel Committee on Friday awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama, citing his work in nuclear weapons elimination and international diplomacy.
The award invited universal astonishment and some amount of derision because it appeared based more on hope and expectation than lasting achievement or accomplishment typical for nominees. Critics pointed out that Nobel Committee's deadline for nominations was February 1, just 11 days after Obama's inauguration.
But the Nobel committee statement that accompanied the award announcement read ''Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics,'' although it evidently took into account his work in the months since he took office and perhaps even his exertions as senator and presidential candidate.
''Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position... Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting,'' the committee gushed in the statement.
Obama himself put the award in perspective while admitting he was both surprised and humbled by it. He said he did not feel he deserved to be in the company of so many great transformative figures of peace (his idol, Mahatma Gandhi, was denied the peace prize by the then imperialist Nobel committee).
''I do not view it as recognition of my own accomplishment, rather as an affirmation of American leadership of all nations,'' Obama said in brief media appearance in the White House Rose Garden, seeking to deflect some of the criticism for what many feel is a award he is yet to earn and has come too early.
"I know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievements," Obama said, adding, "It's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st Century."
The US President also put a lighter spin on the Friday morning surprise saying ''this is not how I expected to wake up'' and relating that after telling him he had won the Nobel Prize, his daughters reminded him that it was their dog Bo’s birthday today and there is a long weekend coming up.
While the award may have surprised the diplomatic world outside US, it roiled domestic politics. Republicans didn’t waste time congratulating the President; instead, they ridiculed him, saying he was not going to get any award for job creation or rescuing the economy.
It got even uglier after Democrats shot back and accused Republicans of being anti-American and throwing their lot with terrorists. Obama acolytes also reminded Republicans of the unseemly cheering from their rank and file when Chicago lost its Olympic bid.
Indeed, there were gasps of surprise in the room as the Nobel spokesman announced the award for Obama, ironically recalling similar astonishment when Obama’s hometown Chicago lost its 2016 Olympic bid last week.
Obama is the third sitting president to get the Nobel Peace Prize after Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, both of whom got it well into their presidency after significant peace-making achievements.
Jimmy Carter got the award after his presidency for his work in the middle-east and Al Gore got his post vice-presidency for a lifetime of work creating environmental awareness.
In contrast, Obama is in the middle of a protracted conflict in the Af-Pak theatre that could get even more serious if he heeds the call from his generals to send up to 60,000 more troops.