What he Won For:
Inspires Hope for a Better Future
Barack H. Obama, the 44th President of the United States, had been in power for less than eight months when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. Among the reasons it gave, the Nobel Committee lauded Obama for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples". Emphasis was also given to his support - in word and deed - for the vision of a world free from nuclear weapons.
Even before the election, Obama had advocated dialogue and cooperation across national, ethnic, religious and political dividing lines. As President, he called for a new start to relations between the Muslim world and the West based on common interests and mutual understanding and respect. In accordance with a promise he made during his election campaign, he set in motion a plan for the withdrawal of U.S. occupying forces from Iraq.
During his first year in power, President Obama showed himself to be a strong spokesman for human rights and democracy, and as a constructive supporter of the work being done to put effective measures in place to combat the climate crisis. This is in line with his appeal: "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges".
How He Measures Up:
Basically, everything he won for he didn't achieve. Islamic Terrorism is still going strong with ISIS and the war in Afghanistan still dragging on. International co-operation doesn't exist, with Russia starting a new reign of terror. Gitmo is still open. He basically won for being black, and he isn't even black (he's American). One thing he was successful at is removing all the nukes in the world.
Aung San Suu Kyi
What she Won For:
Burma's Modern Symbol of Freedom
The Burmese Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of the legendary liberation movement leader Aung San. Following studies abroad, she returned home in 1988. From then on, she led the opposition to the military junta that had ruled Burma since 1962. She was one of the founders of the National League for Democracy (NLD), and was elected secretary general of the party. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, she opposed all use of violence and called on the military leaders to hand over power to a civilian government. The aim was to establish a democratic society in which the country's ethnic groups could cooperate in harmony.
In the election in 1990, the NLD won a clear victory, but the generals prevented the legislative assembly from convening. Instead they continued to arrest members of the opposition and refused to release Suu Kyi from house arrest.
The Peace Prize had a significant impact in mobilizing world opinion in favor of Aung San Suu Kyi's cause. However, she remained under house arrest for almost 15 of the 21 years from her arrest in July 1989 until her release on 13 November 2010, whereupon she was able to resume her political career and put her mark on the rapid democratization of Myanmar.
How She Measures Up:
Myanmar is one of the best countries in the world, as they don't accept Muslims as citizens. However, they do accept the equally revolting Buddhists, so there is a lot of work left to do. They have been pretty slow at kil
Juan Manuel Santos
What he Won For:
"for his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end"
How He Measures Up:
The Peace agreement originally went to a referendum where it was rejected even though, according to Juan it was "the best possible agreement". Now, a new, substantially revised peace agreement between the Columbian government and FARC is going to skip the referendum and go straight to Congress. This will probably drive the price of cocaine up and lead to more violence.
Meh- simplistic takes on the Nobel prizes are pretty par for the course. Can I ask what made you ignore Henry Kissinger from your post?
