Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

So Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and this has sparked an unsurprising amount of controversy. The main issue being that he really hasn't done anything particularly obvious for world peace since his inauguration, and particularly in the twelve days of his presidency before the nominations closed.

Now first of all I will admit that these criticisms aren't unfair. Of course that doesn't mean that all criticism has been unbiased, with Fox news considering 'skipping church' to be the only thing the president did on two of those twelve days. Of course not doing something doesn't really qualify as an activity, nor does it account for what he actually DID do on those days.

The more important point however is that President Obama didn't pop into existance ex nihilo on the day he stepped into the most powerful office in the world. Casting a mind back to the months prior to him taking the post should give an instant reminder of the spirit of hope he brought not just to Americans but also to the world at large. Obama wasn't just an inspiration for black Americans. America is a country populated by people able to be persuaded that someone berated for attending a controversial church is a Muslim terrorist, or be suspicious of the fact he had an unfortunate middle name. The fact that the country was now going to be in the hands of someone who didn't strike fear into the hearts of those within nuclear striking distance changed attitudes towards America on a global scale.

Obama has been attacked constantly by his critics since long before his election, including Hilary Clinton's Democrat supporters. The fact that we now live in a world where the Bush legacy has become a faded memory and the world's only superpower can be seriously considered as a force for good is something brought about specifically by this man. He is by no means perfect, and his presidency has not delivered everything it promised. That said, the road to that presidency brought genuine hope of a sane post-9/11 America and thinking back just a few years should illustrate just how big an achievement that is.