I'm pretty sure by simply taking GWB's place in office, he incidentally caused a great deal more peace than would otherwise have existed.  He should get the "Not The Biggest Douche in the Universe" award.

I could tell in Obama's response even he was like, *huh?*"Thanks, I guess???? What did I do?"

I did say however on another message board that the entire idea of a "peace" prize is dangerous, all be it well intended.

It does have the connotation of human empathy in the desire of having a violence free environment to live in. HOWEVER, I think it ignores globally our evolutionary alpha male drive to be on top. "Peace" subconsciously to most people is peace as long as others see it your way.

It wont bring peace between the right wing and left in America and I doubt Rush sees "Peace" the same way Obama does. And most certainly The radical Middle East sees "peace" as the submission of all others to Islam.

Having said that, given the intent of the prize, I think Obama won because of the 180 rejection in his campaign and in office of the Cowboy "Shoot first and ask questions later" attitude of Bush.

But it certainly wasn't based on any written law or pact or treaty or book.

 Prozac - almost all of his work has NOT been with Iraq / Afghanistan. 

It is with the REST of the world. He sat down and talked to many leaders we were not previously, as well as accomplished things that no leader has done before.

The g-20 summit for example, he got all of the countries to agree to a "peer review" of their economic policies by other governments, as well as monitoring by the International Monetary Fund. That is something practically unheard of for countries to share.

Obama afterwards: "We have achieved a level of tangible, global economic cooperation that we've never seen before." 

There is a lot of work he is doing through diplomacy. In fact, he is changing the way diplomacy works internationally by bringing many nations IN to the international community, that previously were not actively involved in any way but name. 

As to the criteria that started it, this is what Nobel said in his will: "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"

According to the the committee, the award was "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples"

Ahh, alright then. I don't think that President Obama has really changed a lot in regard to the wars, but I also think he isn't sure how to handle them with so many conflicting reports coming in. He has generals calling for surges, and others calling for drawing down. It's a mixed bag.

He is keeping busy with other things, I think he is focusing on issues he knows how to tackle first. International diplomacy seems to be his strong suite. I think that his foreign policy is a bit opposite of President Bush, if you look at it from the terms of President Obama being willing to discuss issues and President Bush dictating conditions, then putting out more than vague threats if they were not answered with a "yes".

One was strong-armed "my way or the highway", and the other is "Lets see what you want and see if some kind of agreement can be made to a mutual benefit" as a general foreign policy.

I'll leave Brian to speak for himself though as to his meaning.

The only nation not responding well to President Obama's willingness to talk is Israel really. While his speech to the Muslim world won us many friends, and changed a lot of the overwhelming negative sentiment against the United States in that area of the world, it also made Israel a bit upset with us. They have outright said "no" to our President several time now on issues where he asked them to give a little to get a little, and if anything seem to be working against diplomacy. Israel has even made vague threats against us if we didn't support them. 

At the moment, the Palestinians are watching Israel constructing buildings on the West Bank, and want them to stop. Israel said they won't, and their foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said there was no chance of a peace deal with the Palestinians for many years. So they are pretty much toying with peace talks while moving in and setting up home so there will not be an easy "out" of the situation.

The area is a mess, and President Obama keeps setting up peace talks, and is putting more and more pressure on Israel. I don't know what he can do about it though, because they don't seem responsive. The UN has also tried to put pressure on them for the past several years.

In addition to this, there is also Iran and Israel making vague threats against one another.

Presidential Candidate Obama told the caucus mid-last year after many trips abroad talking to foreign leaders, especially in the middle east (including Israel), "Nobody said this to me directly but I get the feeling from my talks that if the sanctions don't work Israel is going to strike Iran."

And then there is Iran's secret nuclear enrichment facilities, which show that Iran is more than capable right now of making weaponry with. What has Obama done about this?

Well, secret negotiations between the IAEA, Iran, the U.S., Russia and France were going on. Discussions which led to a deal which would involve putting most of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium to use for non-military but very profitable ends. They will send it abroad for further enriching and encasing in fuel rods which would then be introduced into a plant which makes medical isotopes, in Tehran.

So Iran is allowed to save face, and make profit while at the same time moving the push away from military towards economic growth. The benefit is there for all parties involved, and everyone stands to gain from new business partnerships. It also creates ties where there previously were none, since all these nations will now have an investment in each other for mutual gain. 

Bravo, I say.

  Okay, shifting away from my response to Brian and on to your more broadened perspective:  I believe Obama has good intentions and I don't see him as being as autocratic as Bush.  I agree that people and/or nations don't like being pushed around and a "kind word turneth away wrath" ( heh heh )  Props to him for that.

   I believe that the US should just dump Israel and tell them that they are on their own.  If they want to live in a neighborhood where they are hugely outnumbered by their enemies then they should be prepared to fight their own battles without help from the US.  ( Personally,  I advocate a Monroe Doctrine updated for the politics of the 21'st century but that will never happen. )  I agree with an obscure French diplomat whose name I forget who referred to Israel as "that shitty little country."

I'd like to see that myself. Unfortunately, there are too many senators from Likud around.

Should make some theists happy though. Make the pile of bodies higher so Jesus doesn't have so far to step down for his second coming.

Not at all. If a certain someone hadn't gotten distracted in Iraq, Afghanistan likely would have been resolved years ago. Bin Laden might have been killed already and Pakistan might be a much more stable place. Obama has to do what he has to do to clean up Bush's mess.

 http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/home/announce-2009/

This is their announcement.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2009

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.

Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population.

For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama's appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges."

Oslo, October 9, 2009