Can he top that historic election? Yes, he can.
"The FP Morning Brief: Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize"
I usually skim rapidly over these email subscriptions whenever they land in my inbox, but reading that headline actually made me widened my eyes so I read through the brief.
OBAMA WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Top story: In a stunning upset, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded U.S. President Barack Obama the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, only nine months into his presidency. The committee cited Obama's efforts at nuclear nonproliferation, his outreach to the Muslim world, and emphasis on multilateralism saying, “Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics.”
The choice of Obama is even more surprising given that he had assumed office only two weeks before the Feb. 1 deadline for nominations. When asked whether the award was, perhaps, premature, Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman Thorbjorn Jagland compared Obama to Willy Brandt and and Mikhail Gorbachev, two leaders whose reforms had not come to fruition when they had received the prize.
“The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world,” Jagland said. “And who has done more than Barack Obama?”
All the same, even the White House seemed shocked by the decision with Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel saying “There has been no discussion, nothing at all.” Though he couldn't help later quipping, "Oslo beats Copenhagen."
Now that's pressure. It's a mammoth of a title to live up to, especially when his efforts are not yet set in stone. Let's just hope he doesn't stumble too much. It'll be uhh...awkward otherwise. Anyway, that quip by Emmanuel was amusing :D
I usually skim rapidly over these email subscriptions whenever they land in my inbox, but reading that headline actually made me widened my eyes so I read through the brief.
OBAMA WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Top story: In a stunning upset, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded U.S. President Barack Obama the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, only nine months into his presidency. The committee cited Obama's efforts at nuclear nonproliferation, his outreach to the Muslim world, and emphasis on multilateralism saying, “Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics.”
The choice of Obama is even more surprising given that he had assumed office only two weeks before the Feb. 1 deadline for nominations. When asked whether the award was, perhaps, premature, Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman Thorbjorn Jagland compared Obama to Willy Brandt and and Mikhail Gorbachev, two leaders whose reforms had not come to fruition when they had received the prize.
“The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world,” Jagland said. “And who has done more than Barack Obama?”
All the same, even the White House seemed shocked by the decision with Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel saying “There has been no discussion, nothing at all.” Though he couldn't help later quipping, "Oslo beats Copenhagen."
Now that's pressure. It's a mammoth of a title to live up to, especially when his efforts are not yet set in stone. Let's just hope he doesn't stumble too much. It'll be uhh...awkward otherwise. Anyway, that quip by Emmanuel was amusing :D