When Alfred Nobel designed his peace prize in 1895, it was clear that he granted it to encourage peace efforts. Ever since, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has annually created a shortlist of government officials, members of international institutions and international figureheads in order to choose that year's recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. The first to be awarded the prize was Henry Dunant, father of the Red Cross. Other great figures awarded the prize include civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, and George Marshall, architect of the Marshall Plan to reconstruct Europe after the war. The prize was also given jointly to Anwar Al-Sadat and Menachem Begin in 1978 for their contribution to the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem De Klerk received the prize jointly in 1993 for ending the apartheid regime in South Africa. Giving the Nobel Peace Prize to a US president is not a novelty. Obama is the third US president in office to be awarded the prize. Theodore Roosevelt, to whom the idiom “talk softly but carry a big stick” is attributed, as a paradigm for an aggressive policy of intervention, notably in Latin American countries, was the first US president to earn the prize in 1906 for his role as a mediator in ending the Russo-Japanese war. Woodrow Wilson won the Nobel Prize in 1919 for his work as chief architect of the League of Nations, in spite of his utter failure in passing it through the American Senate. Jimmy Carter received the prize after leaving office in recognition of his efforts for cementing the Camp David Accords, while totally forgetting the Iran-hostage debacle which cost him his re-election. But awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to US presidents was never a forgone conclusion. Obama's award is no exception to this longstanding controversy. In October 2009, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize. Already then the decision was questioned as highly politicised and controversial. A few months into his presidency, Obama was chosen from 205 candidates to receive the award. It was clear that he was presented the award for his vision and expressed intentions, rather than for clear-cut achievements. Claims have been made that Obama's speech in June 2009 at Cairo University was the main determinant for the Nobel Committee's decision. In addition to emphasising the role of multilateral diplomacy, he made a strong overture to the Middle Eastern region, where he detailed the necessity of addressing extremist behaviours, gender inequality, and asserting democracy. Most notably, he addressed the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and cited the need to accommodate both sides, as well as the call for non-proliferation of nuclear weapons worldwide, and notably in the region. By reaching out to the Middle East through this speech, Obama showed his dedication to changing American and international perceptions of Muslims, and vice versa. It is clear from the timeline that Obama received the award for reasons not of his own making. It seems that President Obama was very much aware of this reality. Accepting the award, Obama stressed the fact that the Nobel Peace Prize had not just been used to honour specific achievements, but also as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. The Nobel Committee granted Obama the award to add momentum to his inspiration, to validate his words at the national as well as international levels, and to hold the US administration responsible for legitimising Obama's ambitions. President Obama was awarded the peace prize for an expectation, a mirage, on which the Nobel Committee pushed the world community to bet blindly. Undoubtedly, the peace prize was a political decision: an early vote of confidence in the new administration so as to encourage President Obama to advance his goals for peace. It is true that in his efforts to seek the peace and security of a world free from nuclear weapons, Obama initiated three nuclear security summits where he encouraged the international community to improve nuclear security and signed the New START Treaty with Russia in 2011. But, according to a study by the Federation of American Scientists, Obama “has done less than all other post-Cold War presidents in terms of number of stockpiled warheads and percentage of reduction.” While former President George W Bush reduced the US nuclear stockpile by 50 per cent during his time in office, President Obama has reduced it by only 10 per cent of the total stockpile. Others would claim that Obama's chief success lies more in withdrawing US troops from Iraq. However, such an accomplishment can hardly be attributed to Obama and his administration. US troops withdrew fully from Iraq in December 2011, implementing the timeline set in the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that the Bush administration signed with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki in 2008. Obama tried to extend US military presence, but it was the Iraqi's government condition to subject US soldiers to Iraqi justice that led to the US commitment to the withdrawal deadline. Moreover, under Obama, the US decided to continue its presence in Afghanistan after 2014. With regards to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, no US achievement can be named. Another promise Obama reneged on was to close down the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. With resistance from Congress he was unable to fulfil his promise. Also under Obama, the spying powers of the National Security Agency (NSA), which started under the Bush administration, were expanded and used not only against the traditional enemies of the US, but also its allies, such as Germany and France. This does not mean that Obama has made no achievements during his two terms in office. His most significant achievement is the ongoing negotiations with Iran. Unlike Bush's anti-détente policy, aiming to fight the “axis of evil” and seek regime change in Iran, Obama realised that the US cannot go to war to eradicate the Iranian regime, and that détente is the rational alternative. The Iranian deal with the West, though not yet finalised, is considered a remarkable success for Obama. However, Obama could not have achieved it singlehandedly, had it not been for the new Iranian president who inaugurated a shift in Iranian policy. On Obama's outreach to the Muslim world, looking at it now this was more a case of hollow words than a real action plan. Relations with Muslim countries have in fact worsened while the image of the US already negative has continued to deteriorate. An apparent achievement is the lifting of the embargo on Cuba and restoring diplomatic relations with that country. Though this hailed achievement will need more time to materialise and result in tangible change, with this unexpected move the Obama administration wants primarily to improve its image in the Latin American continent in an attempt to counter the growing influence of regional as well as global competitors, like China and Russia. The US administration is cognizant of the damage it suffered among members of the Organisation of American States as a result of its continuing economic and financial embargo on Cuba. Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize not on the basis of already accomplished goals, but for launching a new era of engagement, multilateralism and efforts towards peace. The Nobel Prize was awarded to legitimise a new direction. Furthermore, it was not merely to draw world attention to Obama's goals and desires, but to make sure that the US president would remain on track. But did President Obama remain on track? Does the Nobel Committee have any regrets, or will Obama yet surprise the world before he leaves office by pulling a rabbit out of the hat? These are all valid questions that still deserve proper answers. In the remaining time of his presidency, Obama and his administration will face an uphill battle, challenged by the Republican majority Congress at every turn. Perhaps President Obama would be well advised to extend and not retreat from the multilateral diplomacy he first championed and that justified his Nobel Peace Prize. The writer is professor of Practice and director of the Prince Alwaleed Center for American Sudies &. Research, School Of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP), The American University in Cairo (AUC).
