[NZZ am Sonntag, Switzerland]
La Nacion, Chile
A World of Views on
Obama's Nobel Peace Prize
"From
Europe, Obama has already made great differences, being in the middle of completely
'resetting' relations with Russia. … In Latin America, Cuba set the pattern by maintaining
a certain aloofness … Beijing is quite alienated from the Nobel and cares only
that it not be awarded to a dissident. … Paradoxically, the Americans gave
little significance to the honor."
By Por Raúl Sohr
Translated By Liz
Essary
October 19, 2009
Chile - La Nacion - Original Article (Spanish)
Reactions to the Nobel Peace
Prize to be awarded to President Barack Obama are as diverse as the cultures of
the world.
Obama himself and many others
in various countries expressed surprise at the distinction. After all, the
leader has been in office for less than a year. With elementary logic, there was
no shortage of people who didn’t recall that first, works must be written or
discoveries made before aspiring to the prize.
In the case of the Peace
Prize, Alfred Nobel, the creator of the award and inventor of dynamite, marked out
a difference with the other prizes. He noted [in his will -see
below] that it should go to the person who in 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.”
While the other Prizes are
awarded by experts in various fields, such as with the members of the Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences, the champion of world peace is designated by a
quintet of Norwegian politicians designated by the Parliament of that Nordic
country.
The
last will and testament of Alfred Nobel, father of the Nobel Prize.
[Click Here or Click Photo for Super Jumbo
Version]
On this occasion, Oslo chose Obama
for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and
cooperation between peoples.”
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
Watching from Europe, Obama
is a president that has already made great differences. In the first place, he’s
in the middle of completely “resetting” his relations with Russia. This guarantees
a clear easing of tension on the old continent.
This isn't just good
intentions. Obama has given up a system for intercepting missiles partly meant
to be in Poland and the Czech Republic. Moscow reciprocated by renouncing its
deployment of missiles that were to be pointed at certain White Europeans.
The White House has signaled that
it’s looking for a reduction - a gradual one - of nuclear weapons with an eye
on their complete elimination.
Here also he's encountered a warm
reception on the part of the Russians. These steps are music to the ears of Europeans,
who know that they are the first victims of tensions between East and West.
Then there are Obama’s
efforts to recompose relations with the Islamic world. His speech in Cairo marked
an indisputable gesture of goodwill.
Relations with Muslims are a much
more urgent issue for Europeans than for citizens of the United States. Mosques
are much more crowded in Europe, where there have been large waves of
immigration from those who follow the Quran.
The Arab world, on the other
hand, has been somewhat perplexed by the granting of the award. Obama’s efforts
to push Israel toward negotiations with the Palestinians have been futile. Neither
is the great progress in Iraq appreciated, despite the withdrawal of United
States troops from combat missions in cities. In Afghanistan, the country that
Washington has identified as the center of gravity, things aren't going well.
And by now it's evident that
President Hamid Karzai and his supporters perpetrated a fraud of great
proportions. In some areas the voting exceeded the number of registered voters
by a third. And invariably, the votes were in favor of Karzai. Given that the
war in Afghanistan is above all a political conflict nourished by religious motivations,
the fraud can be only a prelude to important military setbacks.
Worse still, the violence, as
one always knew would be the case, hasn't respected the borders of Pakistan. The
Taliban, with the complicity of elements from the Pakistan intelligence service,
the ISI, has launched a series of suicide bombings in various parts of the
country - including a bold and successful attack against Pakistan's military headquarters
that raised doubts about the country's capacity to protect its atomic weapons.
In India, dissenting voices
were also heard at the awarding of Obama. With a certain bitterness, they recalled
that Mahatma Gandhi, the founder of the republic and symbol of passive
resistance, was nominated for the Prize on four occasions.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
But Gandhi was rejected
because, according to the Nobel Committee, he “wasn’t a true politician, nor a human
rights activist - and because he didn't always act in favor of international law.”
[Unable to confirm source of quote].
Beijing is quite alienated
from the Nobel and cares only that it not be awarded to a dissident.
There were other things said
about the award. In Latin America, Cuba set the pattern, maintaining a certain
aloofness by merely pointing out that it's an award for good intentions and
that the results are few.
Paradoxically, the people of
the United States gave little significance to the honor conferred on their
president.
The press and many
politicians showed some skepticism and it would seem that in some cases, it
almost felt like an intrusion into the country’s domestic affairs. In any event,
Obama has several years to prove that he's deserving of this most sought-after
international award.
SEE ALSO ON THIS:
El Universal, Venezuela:
'Peace Prize' Winner Should Close All U.S. Military Bases
Thawra Al Wada, Syria :
America Deserves 'Nobel War Prize'
Kitabat, Iraq:
Barack Obama ... Bird of Peace!
Dagens Nyheter, Sweden:
The Norwegians 'Got Carried Away' with Obama
Le Figaro, France:
America Itself, Not Obama, Deserves the Nobel Peace Prize
Dernieres Nouvelles d'Alsace, France:
Peace Prize Could Cripple Young President
Le Monde, France:
One Must Not
Misinterpret Obama's Nobel!
Le Temps, Switzerland:
Has Nobel Committee
'Fallen on its Head?'
Corriere della Sera, Italy:
Is Obama's Nobel Just to Repudiate George W. Bush?
Sato, Portugal:
President Obama's Nobel - Can He Fulfill World's Expectations?
Rue 89, France:
Nobel 2009: Obama a (Premature) Icon of Peace
Kayan, Iran:
'Traitorous African Murderer' Wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize!
Estadao, Brazil:
Obama's Nobel Won't Help Him Fight Wars
Zaman, Turkey:
Turks Agree: Obama's Nobel Reflects Hope, Not Action
Der Spiegel, Germany:
For Barack Obama, Nobel Prize
More of a Burden than an Honor
Frankfurter Allgemeine, Germany:
Nobel Winners May
Have to Settle for Less
The Times, U.K.:
'Absurd Decision'
on Obama Makes Mockery
of Nobel Peace Prize
The Times, U.K.:
'Pointless' Nobel Reveals How Obama is Lost in His own Mystique
The Hindustan Times, India:
EDITORIAL: Nobel Committee
Wins an Obama
Times of India, India:
EDITORIAL: Decoding Obama's Nobel Prize
The Hindu, India:
The Nobel and
the Audacity of Hope-Giving
India Today, India:
[Indian] People's Verdict:
Obama Not 'Nobel' Enough
NTV Kenya Video:
'Yes He Can and Yes
He Did' Win the Nobel Prize
Russia Today Video:
Nobel Peace Prize
for Obama a 'Big Mistake'
CBC Canada Video:
Canada's Nightly
News Covers Obama's
Nobel Prize Win
France 24 Video:
Does Barack Obama
Deserve Nobel Peace Prize?
BBC News Audio:
IAEA Chief
ElBaradei Says 'No One
More Worthy' than Obama
BBC News Video:
After Mandela and
Tutu, South Africans Applaud
Obama Nobel Victory
BBC News Video:
Israeli President
Peres Praises Nobel Prize for Obama
CLICK HERE FOR SPANISH VERSION
[Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US October 21, 11:35pm]
