Kudos for Obama

Peace Prize Mirrors Global Support for Dialogue, Engagement

``There is no more 'we' in American politics …," Thomas L. Friedman said in his recent article. Watching the utter lack of U.S. political consensus on what could be a bipartisan issue ― the selection of U.S. President Barack Obama as the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ― the New York Times columnist seemed to have a point.

Of course, politicians are perfectly free to express the pros and cons on any issue, including the honoring of a sitting President. But the U.S. Republicans are likely to be the least qualified to dash cold waters on what otherwise might be a matter for national celebration, because it is them and their previous pinnacle of power, former President George W. Bush, that heightened the global expectations of his successor who stands at the opposite of conservatives on almost all issues.

True, President Obama has shown little ― if any ― in terms of diplomatic accomplishment, but the Nobel committee might have decided to give the peace prize to the diplomatic ``audacity of hope" itself ― tackling global issues with dialogue and engagement, getting nearer to the Muslim world and abandoning the controversial missile defense system. Some might think nothing but Obama's election ― or snatching away power from the Republicans ― deserves the prize as it saved the world from further chaos and conflicts.

Different countries and people can make different interpretations of the somewhat controversial decision and make different requests to the U.S. leader and his administration.

Needless to say, attracting the Korean people's attention most in this regard is Obama's pledge to turn this world into a nuclear-free planet, especially in relation to the two-decade-long nuclear weapons programs of North Korea.

The Obama administration's initial approach toward North Korea was unexpectedly hard-line, a large part of which could be attributed to Pyongyang's rather hasty attempts to size it up through misjudged provocation. It was fortunate Washington later turned around to apply dialogue and engagement to this isolated regime as it does to other ``axis of evil" members, as his predecessor dubbed them.

It would, of course, be premature to expect Obama's receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize would drastically change the fundamental U.S. policy on North Korea, or more specifically, even its latest tactic of a two-track approach based on sanctions and dialogue. If anything, however, the U.S. leader is advised to shift his emphasis from confrontation to conversation.

Obama acknowledged he does not deserve the prize yet, meaning the U.S. leader and his international counterparts will need to try hard to justify the decision after the fact. And we hope one of the first stages to realize this is on the Korean Peninsula, by his wringing far more positive cooperation from both South and North Korea.