president barack obama appeared to be as surprised as everyone else when it was announced that he is the 2009 receipient of the nobel peace prize, joining the ranks of such illustrious winners as jane addams, cordell hull, george marshall, linus pauling, martin luther king, jr., anwar al-sadat, menachim begin, mother teresa, desmond tutu, elie wiesel, the dalai lama, nelson mandela, jimmy carter and al gore. the nobel committee cited obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
as much as i have supported obama from the beginning, and continue to do so, at first blush it seems premature to bestow the peace prize to him after only nine months in office. still, he started actively promoting civilized discourse and conflict resolution among the nations of the world long before he took office. perhaps, after so many years of u.s. militancy and cultural condescension under the bush administration, the world is simply ready for a breath of fresh air, not to mention mutual respect. to that extent, i do not begrudge him this moment in history.
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