Too soon for the Nobel?

The news that President Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace prize was greeted by a chorus of “too soon” in the United States. This early in his administration, he is still seen as a figure of hope rather than a figure of achievement. Even his strongest backers are waiting to see his campaign commitment in his presidency, and those who oppose what he stands for suspect that the committee in Norway is using the prize in an effort to influence U.S. politics.

What we forget is that simply by being elected on the platform he offered, Barack Obama has changed the world, moving it from fear to hope, and through his choice of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State he has projected that change. During the Bush presidency, the nations of the world saw the United States pulling back from international treaties, reemphasizing military prowess, affirming its right to a nuclear first strike, and rejecting the findings of science in the area where international cooperation is most urgently needed, slowing and eventually reversing the process of global warming. They saw the United States declaring war on the basis of false intelligence about an enemy. They saw the democratic process stymied in disputed elections. Suddenly the most powerful nation in the world seemed to have lost its ethical compass. I wonder whether most Americans realize how frightening this was.

Then, simply by being elected, Barack Obama convinced the world that the United States does indeed stand for peace and justice, does seek equality, and, perhaps even more important, that the United States values judicious and thoughtful leadership rather than boastfulness and threat. Everything he has done since reinforces that perception. The impatience many people feel reveals our resurgent vulnerability to leaders who go for the quick and often violent fix. I can empathize with the impatience because to some degree I share that vulnerability. I would have wanted to see more sooner. I share with my fellow citizens their impatience to move forward, their frustration about the delays that were carefully built into our political system by the framers of the constitution, and it takes an effort to stay on course.

But then I remember how I felt in the days before the election. I worried that my countrymen would lapse into a familiar pattern of racism. I worried that we would find a thoughtful and reflective candidate insufficiently macho. I worried that patterns of deception and fraud that have affected recent elections would succeed and that great numbers of Americans would despair of democracy. I feared to see mobs in the streets protesting betrayal. As the results came in, my deepest fear was averted.

I suspect that this fear was felt around the world. It is important to understand how frightening it is to see a nation with so much wealth, so much power, and so many weapons of mass destruction, caught in a politics of polarization, distrust, and irresponsibility.

Simply by being elected, Barack Obama restored my faith in America and offered hope not only to the voters but to the world. He will justify that faith by continuing on the path he is on, the path toward peace and justice that the election told the world this country could still stand for. One could argue that the Nobel Committee awarded the prize not only to the individual but to the United States of America for being true to itself at last. And one could then wonder whether the award was indeed made too soon, whether the nation that elected Barack Obama will prove capable of following through on its votes by supporting his policies and reassuring the world that we are indeed still true to our basic values.