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> the Peace Prize has been very strange of late in general. Remember when a man received the Nobel Peace Prize for not being George W. Bush?

by jansan 3y ago

A_D_E_P_T 3y ago
You could at least make the case that Obama promoted -- indeed, in a sense, embodied -- "fraternity between nations," for he was incredibly popular with most of America's allies. (See, e.g., his "rock star" reception in Germany.) Even its enemies were at worst ambivalent towards him personally, and at best they were hopeful that he'd bring about positive change. In this sense, he, at minimum, shored up the self-image of the Western world. So I thought it was weird, sure, but I could somehow rationalize it. But this year's prize will apparently do nothing but increase enmity and discord, which strikes me as odd and counter to the prize's intended purpose. The Iranian regime isn't going to look at this prize and see the light; it's going to react indignantly and perhaps violently.
- parthdesai 3y ago
  > So I thought it was weird, sure, but I could somehow rationalize it. Not if you happened to be a person in Libya/Syria/Afghanistan or a few other middle eastern countries.
  - suoduandao3 3y ago
    If I recall correctly though, Obama won the peace prize shortly after winning the election and ran from a much more doveish platform than he governed from.
    - LanceH 3y ago
      He won the prize before actually doing anything more than campaign promises. If we're awarding prizes based on campaign promises...well, there will be some interesting awards, indeed.
- dmbche 3y ago
  I think they might be refering to Al Gore instead of Obama?
  - barry-cotter 3y ago
    Both of them got it for not being Bush.
  - jansan 3y ago
    OP here, I meant Obama. I totally forgot that Al Gore received the Nobel Peace Prize. Dear Lord, that prize has really lost its meaning.
- screye 3y ago
  The mishandling of the entire middle-east is hard to ignore. If anything, Trump's only consensus wins came from cleaning up the mess in the middle east. > shored up the self-image of the Western world Which tells you everything you need to about the Nobel Peace Prize.
  - mrguyorama 3y ago
    >cleaning up the mess in the middle east. Pray tell, how did Trump clean up anything in the middle east?
wheelerof4te 3y ago
Oh, yea, I remember. Remember when he started droning civilians all over the Middle East anyway, just because they might have been linked to Al-Qaeda? The same Al-Qaeda US supported and trained a couple decades before that.
- rammer 3y ago
  Yep. US has been at the root of a lot of this century's problems..
- Paradigma11 3y ago
  Afaik US funding went to the afghan mujahideen not arab volunteers. Do you have evidence suggesting otherwise?
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  > The same Al-Qaeda US supported and trained a couple decades before that. Al-Qaeda was formed after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the US did not support and train al-Qaeda as such.
  - parthdesai 3y ago
    If you're going to make claims with such authority, please have the correct information. Sure Al-Qaeda was formed after the Soviet withdrawal, but it consisted of very members that US and Pakistan (ISI) helped in their fight against Soviet union, including Osama Bin Laden. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Afghan_Arabs https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Afghan_Arabs
webmobdev 3y ago
Obama getting the Nobel peace price was when I realised what a big political joke the whole thing is (and I admire Obama!). It is very clear that it is just another political tool used by the west - Gandhi did not get the award because the British government lobbied hard against him. Imagine, the man who advocated for peaceful political resolutions throughout his life, who was the architect of the non-violent political movement that inspired 100's of millions in his own country and other foreign leaders to embrace it too for their local political cause, is considered "not worthy" of the very thing that this "Peace" prize seeks to bestow recognition upon. The founders of the Non-Aligned Movement also deserved the peace prize for refusing to get involved in the cold war politics (a very black and white way of looking at international politics). I am sure there are many more good examples, around the world, of people who deserved this prize but weren't seriously considered (or deliberately omitted) because of western politics.

> the Peace Prize has been very strange of late in general. Remember when a man received the Nobel Peace Prize for not being George W. Bush?

by jansan 3y ago

> the Peace Prize has been very strange of late in general. Remember when a man received the Nobel Peace Prize for not being George W. Bush?

A_D_E_P_T 3y ago

You could at least make the case that Obama promoted -- indeed, in a sense, embodied -- "fraternity between nations," for he was incredibly popular with most of America's allies. (See, e.g., his "rock star" reception in Germany.) Even its enemies were at worst ambivalent towards him personally, and at best they were hopeful that he'd bring about positive change. In this sense, he, at minimum, shored up the self-image of the Western world. So I thought it was weird, sure, but I could somehow rationalize it. But this year's prize will apparently do nothing but increase enmity and discord, which strikes me as odd and counter to the prize's intended purpose. The Iranian regime isn't going to look at this prize and see the light; it's going to react indignantly and perhaps violently.

parthdesai 3y ago
> So I thought it was weird, sure, but I could somehow rationalize it. Not if you happened to be a person in Libya/Syria/Afghanistan or a few other middle eastern countries.
- suoduandao3 3y ago
  If I recall correctly though, Obama won the peace prize shortly after winning the election and ran from a much more doveish platform than he governed from.
  - LanceH 3y ago
    He won the prize before actually doing anything more than campaign promises. If we're awarding prizes based on campaign promises...well, there will be some interesting awards, indeed.
dmbche 3y ago
I think they might be refering to Al Gore instead of Obama?
- barry-cotter 3y ago
  Both of them got it for not being Bush.
- jansan 3y ago
  OP here, I meant Obama. I totally forgot that Al Gore received the Nobel Peace Prize. Dear Lord, that prize has really lost its meaning.
screye 3y ago
The mishandling of the entire middle-east is hard to ignore. If anything, Trump's only consensus wins came from cleaning up the mess in the middle east. > shored up the self-image of the Western world Which tells you everything you need to about the Nobel Peace Prize.
- mrguyorama 3y ago
  >cleaning up the mess in the middle east. Pray tell, how did Trump clean up anything in the middle east?

wheelerof4te 3y ago

Oh, yea, I remember. Remember when he started droning civilians all over the Middle East anyway, just because they might have been linked to Al-Qaeda? The same Al-Qaeda US supported and trained a couple decades before that.

rammer 3y ago
Yep. US has been at the root of a lot of this century's problems..
Paradigma11 3y ago
Afaik US funding went to the afghan mujahideen not arab volunteers. Do you have evidence suggesting otherwise?
dragonwriter 3y ago
> The same Al-Qaeda US supported and trained a couple decades before that. Al-Qaeda was formed after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the US did not support and train al-Qaeda as such.
- parthdesai 3y ago
  If you're going to make claims with such authority, please have the correct information. Sure Al-Qaeda was formed after the Soviet withdrawal, but it consisted of very members that US and Pakistan (ISI) helped in their fight against Soviet union, including Osama Bin Laden. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Afghan_Arabs https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Afghan_Arabs

webmobdev 3y ago

Obama getting the Nobel peace price was when I realised what a big political joke the whole thing is (and I admire Obama!). It is very clear that it is just another political tool used by the west - Gandhi did not get the award because the British government lobbied hard against him. Imagine, the man who advocated for peaceful political resolutions throughout his life, who was the architect of the non-violent political movement that inspired 100's of millions in his own country and other foreign leaders to embrace it too for their local political cause, is considered "not worthy" of the very thing that this "Peace" prize seeks to bestow recognition upon. The founders of the Non-Aligned Movement also deserved the peace prize for refusing to get involved in the cold war politics (a very black and white way of looking at international politics). I am sure there are many more good examples, around the world, of people who deserved this prize but weren't seriously considered (or deliberately omitted) because of western politics.