By The SATimes News Service
By Prof A. D. Amar
Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize within months of his taking the oath of the office of President. Obviously, it was not given for what he had done. That would have been too early for any assessment of his contribution to global peace. It was done in anticipation of what the Norwegian Nobel Committee expected him to do. It is what I call an award á priori. Nevertheless, to assuage the criticism that arose after its bestowing of the award on him, the Committee said that Obama had won the award also because he was the first black U.S. president. It expected Obama to address issues pertaining to the fate of the downtrodden in the world, bring global peace, and reduce the weapons of mass destruction.
In late 2015, seeing Obama close to ending his second term without having achieved any of the expectations the Nobel Committee had of him, for example, there was no reduction of troop deployment, no reduction of wars America was involved around the world, no reduction in poverty or homelessness in America or around the world, the committee regretted having awarded him a Peace Nobel. The secretary of the Committee at the time, Mr. Geir Lundstedt, who influenced the decision and resigned in 2014, openly lamented awarding Nobel Peace Prize to Obama. In the hindsight of the committee, Obama did not deserve the award. It learned to be very careful in the future.
Now comes President Donald J. Trump, who did all that the Norwegian Nobel Peace Committee had expected Obama to do. Take, for example, the wars around the world, the number of American troops stationed abroad, and the peace in the Middle East. Trump has done what no national leader in the world could do. He made peace gestures to so many around the world, including North Korea, and Iran. He has now two peace treaties among his achievements. Like President Jimmy Carter who won the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing Israel and Egypt to diplomacy and normalcy, Trump has done that between Israel and United Arab Emirates. And, he is now adding peace between Israel and Bahrain to his credit. The Middle East has never been at peace as it is at present. The domino effect is likely to continue.
It is under this record that Norwegian parliamentarian Ms. Tybring-Gjedde nominated President Trump for the awarding of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. This is his second nomination. Under the achievements he had in bringing peace to the world, there is no doubt that he would be the best deserving and the most likely to win the prize.
A.D. Amar, Ph.D. is Professor of Management at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ. He is founder, president of Indian-Americans for Trump (FEC registered).
