by Ana - I'm Learning

Created on: October 13, 2009   Last Updated: October 16, 2009

Sadly another hallowed institution like the Nobel Prize has fallen by the wayside. Over the last twenty years everything around us has degenerated. The society, morality of the people, governments and of course human values - all have lost the high standards that were maintained.

One institution that had preserved and retained its standard was the Nobel Prize. But alas, it has finally managed to become a butt of jokes by awarding the peace prize to President Obama.

The Award committee has sought to justify its decision by saying that they are expecting great things from the American President. It is their hope that he will play a stellar role in defusing tensions between nations and bring greater and lasting peace on earth. If that was indeed the case, then what was the hurry? The current term of the President will last another four years and he could have been rewarded after his initiatives had borne fruit.

When the nominations were made in early 2009, there was hardly any visibility on what Obama's initiatives were going to be except for the 'noble' intentions that he professed during the campaign. It must be remembered that the office of the President faced criticism and opposition during the last eight years. Much of the problems that we face today has been aggravated by the actions of the previous office holder.

Naturally, the new directions professed by Obama caught the imagination of people from all over the world. People particularly from Europe saw the new President as a gospel who will herald peace over the earth. This probably explains why the Nobel Peace prize committee fell head over heels to give the award to Obama.

The decision was met with surprise which gave way to skepticism. More and more people are convinced that the decision was a political one. The objective was to send a political message on behalf of Europeans that Americans need to appreciate Europe's views rather than riding rough-shod over its dreams and aspirations. Recent political controversies over missile deployment, economic gloom, farm subsidies and other issues have created tremendous hard feelings amongst Europeans against American imperialism.

The award is seen more as a slap on President Bush's face than a reward for Obama. But in wading into the political quagmire, the Nobel committee has only let the hallowed institution to fall into disgrace.

At the end of the day, the Nobel committee has every right to decide who the winner should be. The members of the jury have no doubt debated on the contributions of all the nominations and at the end decided on the person whom they think fit. But if rules were to be followed as laid out in the will of Alfred Nobe,l then it should have been awarded to a person who has contributed in the past to the well being of man-kind and not on one who 'will' contribute.

In the process, the committee has staked its reputation should Obama be unsuccessful in his initiatives, then the members would only blacken their face in the long term bringing more ridicule onto themselves.

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