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President Obama’s recent Nobel Peace Prize came as a shock.

This has received way too much attention from the media people. Get over it!

My internal dialogue may appear ignorant–and crazy!– to the untrained eye, but please allow me to take you on a trip back in history!

While many of the world’s most scholarly books including encyclopedias and well-known dictionaries claim that the Nobel Peace Prize is the most prestigious peace prize in the world, it’s clear the times have changed. Mr. Nobel’s original intent was that “the prize for peace was to be awarded to the person who “shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding of peace congresses” (nobelprize.org).

In 1917, during the first World War, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the International Committee of the Red Cross. ” During the First World War, the ICRC undertook the tremendous task of trying to protect the rights of the many prisoners of war on all sides, including their right to establish contacts with their families” (nobelprize.org). A noble cause indeed! I would say they were more than deserving of such a “prestigious” award.

In 1919 U.S. President Thomas Woodrow Wilson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his roll in establishing the League of Nations. “The League’s goals included upholding the new found Rights of Man such as right of non whites, rights of women, rights of soldiers, disarmament, preventing war through collective security, settling disputes between countries through negotiation, diplomacy and improving global quality of life” (Wikpedia). A well deserved Nobel Peace Prize, if I may say so myself.

Now let’s fast forward…

“In 1994, the Peace Prize was awarded to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres for the Oslo Agreement, which brought about a mutual recognition and a framework for peace between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel. The three politicians had accomplished much, but they were still far from establishing a final peace between Israelis and Palestinians” (nobelprize.org). Wait a minute…they gave him the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for thinking about bringing peace?

In 2006 the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank for their efforts to create economic and social development from below. I am fairly certain that, while Mr. Yunus and Mr. Bank were lovely people, they were not the first pair to attempt to break developing nations out of poverty. After all, there is still lots of poverty plaguing developing nations.

I’ve drawn some conclusions about the reasoning behind  the 1994, 2006 and 2009 Nobel Peace Prizes, including a few other prizes that were awarded in between. At some point the prestigiousness of the award was tainted. The prize began to be awarded based on “good intentions” and “great potential,” rather than major accomplishments. Why would they do that? Aren’t people accomplishing anything anymore? Of course they are! The Nobel Peace Prize is being awarded for potential. It appears that it is supposed to serve as motivation to fulfill that potential. Well now that I put it that way, Mr. Obama fits right in! It has become a prize for those who are both popular and liberal minded, because they have the potential to make change happen. Can we really manipulate politics with this no-longer-prestigious award? I think not! But best of luck trying.

Other Interesting Facts About the Nobel Prizes From nobelprize.org

• In 1896, Alfred Nobel specified in his will that a certain amount of his wealth were to go to establishing the Nobel Prizes
• Nobel left no explanation as to why the prize for peace was to be awarded by a Norwegian committee while the other four prizes were to be handled by Swedish committees.
• The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901
• Other U.S. Presidents who won the Nobel Peace Prize: Theodore Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter Jr., Thomas Woodrow Wilson

To read more on the history of the Nobel Prize check out nobelprize.org