No Bells and Whistles

So the Nobel prize jury has expended a considerable amount of effort in justifying it’s Peace Prize award to Mr Obama.  The award has raised many eyebrows at home and abroad and after all, the nominations closed just two weeks after his appointment to office – not exactly a long time to ‘make a difference’.
Apparently the prize was awarded based on his intent derived from the way he ran his presidential campaign.  The desire to work through the UN, an emphasis on international diplomacy and negotiation; and of course the dream of creating a new global political climate.
Now, ignoring those who think the prize was given as an incentive just to get him to visit Norway there has been much divided debate on the merit of him getting the award and it has to be said that Mr Obama himself seemed somewhat embarrassed by it all so soon in his tenure as president.  Perhaps the value of getting the award would be much greater if he did actually achieve some of his much vaunted ideals espoused within his presidential campaign rather than getting an award for the things he would like to achieve.
It has to be acknowledged though that unlike the other Nobel prizes the Peace Prize is always somewhat subjective and inevitably always political.  However, the views of a few retired Norwegian politicians are just that and need to be taken in context.
In any event, Mr Obama’s acceptance speech on behalf of the American people and his desire to engage with other nations does resonate with many and whilst many Americans on the streets seem fairly ambivalent and more concerned with health care reforms, there is no doubt the already substantial pressure on Mr Obama has been taken up another notch.
For most of us I suspect that we just hope he fulfills his potential and makes at least some headway with his international engagement plans.