【10.10 TNR】Obama's Nobel: Mixed Blessing at Best

渔音谦谦

新共和
原文地址：http://edition.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/06/15/china.underground.translate/index.html

It’s not often that the recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize wonders whether he actually wants it. But that thought must have crossed Barack Obama’s mind when he was awoken at 6 a.m. this morning and told the stunning news. For Obama, winning the award after just nine months in office—for having created “a new international climate” of peace—is, at best, a mixed blessing. (Read Ed Kilgore on the confused conservative reaction to the news, Noam Scheiber on why 2007 winner Al Gore must not be too happy, and TNR's historical take on the Nobel Prize from our archives.)

At home, conservatives are already sneering that the award, granted on the basis of so little tangible accomplishment, further demonstrates Obama’s hollow celebrity status. Remember the McCain campaign "Celebrity" ad featuring Paris Hilton and images of Obama before cheering throngs in Europe?  This time, however, the complaint feels less specious. This award would be vastly more legitimate and inspiring if and when, for instance, Obama is actually able to get Middle East peace talks moving again; or after, say, America and Iran reach a diplomatic rapproachement. Instead one suspects that even many fair-minded Americans (especially ones looking for a job) will roll their eyes. And you can be sure Stewart and Leno are already writing the jokes.

Overseas, the Nobel might help marginally--although in some ways not at all. It’s impossible to imagine the news from Stockholm moving either the Israelis or the Arabs to make peace-process concessions. (Neither Bibi Netanyahu nor King Abdullah are great sentimentalists.) The award is a useful affirmation to Obama's faith in internationalism on issues like global warming and nuclear disarmament. And it's likely to re-energize his standing in Europe, from whence it comes, and where such honorifics carry the most currency.

But there’s an irony here: Obama doesn’t need Europe’s help primarily for achieving world peace. He needs NATO support for putting a lid on Afghanistan, and Germany and France's backing for tough economic sanctions on Iran should diplomacy fail to defang its nuclear program. The most important impact of this prize may be a slight boost in Obama’s ability to pursue a war and confront his Persian rivals.

At best, then, the award is a mixed blessing. That’s why Obama should consider the advice of Chait, Massie, and others and, in a gesture of his humility, refuse to accept it. It would be the right thing to do in principle. It might also be smart politics.

More Articles On: Human Interest, Europe, Person Career, Al Gore, Barack Obama, Noam Scheiber





网友跟帖：
10/09/2009 - 10:59am EDT | DC Spence
Refuse to accept it? That's rude. He should accept the award on behalf of others working for peace, donate the cash prize to some worthy international charity and get back to work.

10/09/2009 - 11:23am EDT | acria multa
Can he do that and not have people say he's too arrogant even for the Nobel? I think Spence is on the right track here.

10/09/2009 - 12:27pm EDT | whit
Not to be splitting hairs, but the news didn't come from Stockholm. The Nobel Peace Prize committee is composed of members of the Norwegian parlament, so the news comes from Oslo.

10/09/2009 - 1:07pm EDT | fwslusser
To refuse the award would mean putting his own and certian transitory political calcualtions above the broader responsibility Obama has as a representative of the victory of the lower classes of the world through non-violent means, the success of an alternative to violent revolution.
He should accept it on behalf of those who gave him this opportunity and out of respect for those who recognize his remarkable achievement to even be in this position as leader of the free world.
He deserves it now, in case his enemies among the former anglo-saxon ruling elites and their ignorant red-neck foot soldiers manage to have him assassinated.

10/09/2009 - 1:48pm EDT | esmense
He should have accepted it on behalf of the American people, rather than himself, as an acknowledgement of the values and history of leadership that has inspired the hopes and expectation this award represents. And he should have been ready with a good answer to the question that ended his press conference, "What are you going to do with the money?" (That answer,of course, should not be "keep it." It should be something that demonstrates his commitment to and furthers the ideals for which he is being honored.)
Doing so would have been an alternative to declining to accept the award that would have actually demonstrated humility -- rather than just making a verbal claim for it. In terms of politics and PR it would have been the smart thing to do.

10/09/2009 - 2:06pm EDT | baxterjones
Crowley's right: the main benefit from this prize is to boost Obama's standing in the eye's of European leaders, by reminding them of how popular he is with their voters....which in turn gives him leverage in asking Britain & France to keep troops in Afghanistan, and with pressure on Iran.
Domestically, it makes it a little harder for the more leftist Democrats to disagree with Obama when he decides to send more troops to Afghanistan. Right wingers may have disdain for the Nobel, but lefties respect it.

10/09/2009 - 2:15pm EDT | micjimenez
I’ve always believed the Peace Prize is for someone who has done inspirational things. In Obama’s case, making overtures around the world, viewing policies from a global as well as an American perspective, and generally acting as a statesman for one of the world's premier democracies is part of his job as president. I expect nothing less. Has the quality of American presidents declined so much that one who is thoughtful in manner is felt to deserve an award?

10/09/2009 - 2:41pm EDT | mlottman
Mr. Crowley et al.: You are all completely nuts. You can refuse a Nobel Prize if you
want to express contempt for those who award it, or those who have received it,
but to do so for the kind of cockeyed political reasons mentioned above is just
totally self-defeating. And I think he has accomplished more internationally,
Afghanistan aside, than a lot of people want to realize. The speech to the Arab
world, his work with G20 and at the U.N., the decision on the nuclear shield, and maybe
even the Iran negotiations
have all made an impression on the world if not on TNR bloggers.

10/09/2009 - 3:07pm EDT | dhurtado
FWIW, I completely agree with mlottman. The idea that Obama should refuse the award is juvenile. It gives no thought to the consequences of doing so.

10/09/2009 - 3:20pm EDT | sdemuth
Let's see: an American original, immigrant background, up from considerable adversity, brilliant and succesful, is honored by the Nobel committee for his international diplomacy, and the conservatives dismiss it as a sham due to his "star power."
Which means they:
1. Are insulting the Peace Prize Committee's intelligence, and
2. Have not the good grace to express pride in the acknowledged accomplishments of an American statesman.
Shame on anyone going down this road. Show some bloody grace and nobility for once, and don't take the low road on the knee-jerk assumption that you can score points that way with the ignorant rabble you call your base. America is honored by this honor - America created this man, and Americans recognized his talent, and America elected him. So:
3. Cast aspersions on the very country and values they claim to hold dear.

10/09/2009 - 4:39pm EDT | parnest
Writing after Obama accepted and listened to his speech: Agree with all who pointed out that it would be insulting to decline. Some talking head on NPR (can't remember which of their many news shows) thought the President's statement of acceptance was perfect. I think the prize serves to remind what we Americans were thinking and seeking when we gave our President one of the largest popular majorities of any Democrat elected President, and serves to remind that reality lies elsewhere than with the squawking wingnuts. I think President Obama was just right when he said that the prize was for all who supported the ideals of America and what America stands for, and a "call to action," not reward for past accomplishments.