By Hannah Kim

Great men and women indefatigably strive to go that extra mile. Because these remarkable individuals are intrinsically obliged to live up to the accolades they receive, many Nobel laureates persist to achieve the greatest accomplishments and often change the course of history.

So while some still squabble whether the newly inaugurated president of the United States has been prematurely awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, the rest of us can anticipate vast returns from the investments made by the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Barack's Obama's ``extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

At a minimum, we can expect the award to accomplish three things: inspire, encourage and promote awareness of what needs to transpire to cultivate peace in our complex world.

Take for instance 1991 Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

This past July, the ``leader of a nonviolent revolution for freedom" was conferred the Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconciliation for her continuous fight to foster democracy in Burma (Myanmar) using principles espoused by Gandhi.

Separated from her beloved sons and cancer-battling husband (now deceased), the woman of conviction has been under house arrest since 1989; the Burmese kangaroo court recently extended the arrest for another 18 months to preclude her presence in the upcoming elections.

Last week, ranking member of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen sympathized with Suu Kyi during a hearing on U.S. policy toward Burma. The congresswoman from Florida condemned the regime's violation of human rights ``through bloody assaults, including the burning and pillaging of villages, gang rape, mass murder, mutilation, forced labor and child soldiering".

Deeply inspired by her story of courage are numerous prominent individuals ― ranging from Nobel laureates Desmond Tutu and Elie Wiesel to Madeleine Albright and John McCain, and celebrities such as George Clooney and Brad Pitt ― at the forefront of campaigning for the freedom of Burma (and Suu Kyi).

As famed rock star and human rights activist Bono eloquently put it: ``Suu Kyi, with an idea too big for any jail and a spirit too strong for any army, changes our view ― as only real heroes can ― of what we believe to be possible."

The Dalai Lama's is another case in point.

The 1989 Nobel laureate was honored with the Tom Lantos Human Rights Award early this month on Capitol Hill, with U.S. lawmakers and supporters of the exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader watching.

The award was conferred in memory of the late Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the only Holocaust survivor in Congress and dedicated champion of human rights (Lantos also supported H.R.121, the Korean comfort women resolution).

Upon receiving it, the 74-year-old longtime advocate for Tibetan independence against Chinese rule and exploitation of the Himalayan region said the recognition further encourages his lifetime commitment to the ``promotion of human affection and compassion, and equality and basic human rights in Tibet, or in mainland China, or everywhere."

No doubt, it was a dilemma for President Obama, who aims to establish amicable ties with China to collaborate on crucial foreign policy, economic and environmental goals, to delay his meeting with the Dalai Lama until after the Beijing summit with President Hu Jintao in November. All three incumbent presidents had met His Holiness during his visits to Washington, so Obama's decision raised many brows.

However, the Peace Prize (hopefully) obligates as much as it encourages the leader of the free world to attempt to iron out the human rights issue with his communist counterpart (and perhaps, one day, with Dear Leader Kim).

Finally, a lesser known example, but one of significance, is that of Aminatou Haidar.

Last week in New York, Haidar, the ``courageous campaigner for self-determination of Western Sahara from its occupation by Morocco, as well as against forced 'disappearances' and abuses of prisoners of conscience," was presented with the 2009 Civil Courage Prize.

Dubbed the ``Sahrawi Gandhi," she is another noble champion of peaceful resistance who was imprisoned for several months by the Moroccan authorities in 2005.

In light of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and the Nobel Peace Prize nomination Haidar received in 2008, the international community became more cognizant of the dire situation in the phosphate-rich northwest African territory: a guerrilla war that broke out after the withdrawal of Spanish rule in 1975 barely ended with a U.N.-brokered ceasefire in 1991 (think Korean armistice, signed in 1953).

Fortunately, more help is now on its way.

Indeed, as underscored in Bono's op-ed column in this weekend's New York Times, the President deserves recognition for helping ``rebrand America" ― restoring what the Statue of Liberty stands for and what the City upon a Hill rests upon.

And of course, with such a great distinction comes greater expectations.

But we're all stakeholders of the Peace Prize and should contribute to building the world Obama and his predecessors envisioned.

As fiercely as these Nobel laureates continue to wage peace, cry for democracy and demand human rights, we too have a noble obligation to be inspired, encouraged, and aware… and then take action.

Hannah Kim is a 2009 master's graduate of the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management, specializing in legislative affairs. She spearheaded the passage of the ``Korean War Veterans Recognition Act, U.S. Public Law 111-41," which was signed by President Obama on July 27, 56 years to the day after the Korean War Armistice was signed in 1953. She can be reached at hkim@remember727.org.