Headlines this morning all were about Pres. Obama being announces as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. I actually heard about this on twitter where I was going to post my successful completion of week two of the Couch-to-5k program. Twitter is one of those great instant response tools for news like this. Most of those who felt the strongly enough to write 140 characters on the subject were not pleased nor for that matter was the Washington Post which was the top result on Google news when I looked.

I must admit I was surprised by the announcement as well. I voted for Mr. Obama because I agreed with him on a philosophical level more then a political one. I voted for a president who successfully had empowered the powerless. I voted for a leader who was committed to honest and effective diplomacy before the use of economic or military cohesion. I also voted for a leader who was ready to face the world as it is now not as it was at the end of WWII. I believe that the Nobel Committee voted for the same things.

Many people have rightly pointed out that Pres. Obama has not actually accomplished very much in the way of bringing world peace. The Nobel Peace Prize is however not given solely as a reward for peace making. Many of the recipients were given the award the contributions they made towards the cause of peace. A fine distinction I know but ask the 1994 Nobel Laureates about how the Israel/Palatine conflict is going. Or look at Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho who won the prize in 1973 for ending the Vietnam war.

Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, created the prize in his will in 1895. The explosive he created revolutionized mining, but also brought a whole new kind of terror to warfare. He wrote in his will that he wished to give a yearly award 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 and promotion of peace congresses.

His hope was that he would be remembered for something other then the destruction his invention caused. Today the name Nobel is synonymous with the greatest achievements in Science and Literature. It is also firmly attached to the aspiration for peace. If the Nobel Committee can by its presentation of this prize focus the attention of the world on a person with both the authority and the desire to end conflict, and in doing so aid that cause, then it has indeed lived up to the high ideals of its founder.