Academic

I leave it to others to analyze the merits of that particular choice. I note only that it appears that the actions of George W. Bush during his Presidency was as much responsible for the award as the faith-in-a-future-hoped-for popular speeches whose perceived ideals so endeared Mr. Obama to the Nobel Committee.

Massimo Teodori, one of Italy's leading experts of U.S. history, said the Nobel decision is a clear rejection of the "unilateral, antagonistic politics" of Obama's predecessor, George Bush."The prize is well deserved after the Bush years, which had antagonized the rest of the world," Teodori said. "President Obama's policy of extending his hand has reconciled the United States with the international community." . . . . In Pakistan's central city of Multan, radical Islamic leader Hanif Jalandhri, said he was neither happy nor surprised by Obama's award. "But I do hope that Obama will make efforts to work for peace, and he will try to scrap the policies of Bush who put the world peace in danger," said Jalandhri, secretary general of a group that oversees 12,500 seminaries. Id.

Yet the spirit of Mr. Bush is everywhere. The Novel Organization's web site declares the basis of the award to Mr. Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Nobel Organization, Nobel Peace Prize 2009, October 2009. Clearly, the habits and practices of the American presidency during the first eight years of this century were abhorrent in some quarters. Its abandonment requires recognition--and nurturing. It seems, then, that even the United States can be subject to the disciplinary punishment and reward system of the world community. That community has made its desires well known--a distaste for blatantly imperial behavior for the forms of hegemony that are sugar coated in smooth language.

Perhaps the greatest impact of the award has been the light it shines on the passionate rush, at least at the highest levels of elite government, civil society and media elite elements, to embrace the globalist rhetoric of Mr. Obama. Indeed, it is clear that the award was made to add weight and legitimacy to the political and social vision that Mr.Obama has articulated as for the success of any efforts thus far attained. It is that vision that the Novel Organization and its supporters wishes to see realized--though the details of that implementation are of little moment--and a global gesture adding to the legitimacy, perhap even the inevitablity fo that vision, was deemed important. "'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,' the committee said in a citation." Wojciech Moskwa and Matt Spetalnick, Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize to mixed reviews, Reuters, Oct. 9, 2009. Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Nobel committee

rejected the notion that Obama had been recognized prematurely for his efforts and said the committee wanted to promote the president just it had Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990 in his efforts to open up the Soviet Union.

"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," it said.

Jagland said he hoped the prize would help Obama resolve the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, last year's laureate, said it was clear the Nobel committee wanted to encourage Obama on the issues he has been discussing on the world stage.

"I see this as an important encouragement," Ahtisaari said.

The committee wanted to be "far more daring" than in recent times and make an impact on global politics, said Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the International Peace Research Institute. Obama awarded 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, CNN.com/Europe, Oct. 9, 2009.

President Obama's carefully cultivated rhetorical architecture has appeared to draw a sharp contrast between his vision of the United States engaged within the world community and that of his predecessor.

Pero quizá es precisamente Bush quien ha hecho tan "esperanzador" a Obama a ojos del comité de los premios Nobel. Tras ocho años de polémica gestión en Washington, la llegada de un nuevo presidente dotado de una poderosa oratoria ha supuesto un soplo de aire fresco en la diplomacia internacional. Así lo creen quienes le entregarán el galardón el próximo 10 de diciembre, convencidos de que "muy pocas veces una persona había captado hasta ese punto la atención del mundo y le había dado a la gente esperanza para un futuro mejor". appearance of unilateralism. Obama, Nobel de la paz, El Mundo (España), Oct. 9, 2009. ("But maybe it was Bush himself who has made Obama so much the object of hope in the eyes of Nobel awards committee. After eight years of controversial tenure in Washington, the arrival of a new president gifted with a powerful oratory has brought a breath of fresh air in international diplomacy. That is what those who will deliver the award on December 10 believe, "very rarely has a person captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future."" Id.)

Consider Mr. Obama's acceptance remarks issued several hours after official receipt of the announcement was conveyed and Mr. Obama and his advisers had the chance to produce a response.

One does not only wish to be understood when one writes; one wishes just as surely not to be understood. It is not by any means necessarily an objection to a book when anybody finds it impossible to understand: perhaps that was part of the author's intention--he did not want to be understood by just "anybody." Every more noble spirit and taste selects its audience when it wishes to communicate itself; and choosing them, it at the same time erects barriers against "the others." Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science Parag. 381, p. 343 (Walter Kaufmann, trans, & ed., New York: Vintage Books, 1974).