[yostrovs]

But then there are dozens of impoverished and unjust places on earth. I think the reality is that the five exclusively Norwegian politicians on the Peace prize committee are politicians. And they act accordingly. What if the committee would consist of Russian politicians exclusively, or Venezuelan ones?

[mcphage]

> But then there are dozens of impoverished and unjust places on earth.

They only give out one prize, which means that no matter which they pick, there will be dozes of impoverished and unjust places that don't get recognized by it. That can't be used to reject a choice, since it's true no matter what choice they make.

[ivell]

Nobel peace prize was always political. Obama got it. Gandhi was rejected.

[dotancohen]

This has confused me for long enough. What specific action did Obama do to be awarded the Nobel peace prize?

[Master_Odin]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Nobel_Peace_Prize provides a good overview of why he got the award and the surrounding controversy.

[dotancohen]

- Promotion of nuclear nonproliferation.

- Reaching out to the Muslim world.

I see. Thank you.

[peterfirefly]

Obama and Gore both got it for not being Bush.

[Zigurd]

I can remember when that was a huge contrast.

[fifilura]

It was probably premature.

But the relation between USA and the Arabic states were on an all time low after the Bush Crusade.

And Obama reached out to fix the relations. This is my recollection of it.

But i can agree that the rushed decision created problems afterwards for the committee. Like today when it is questioned.

[zimpenfish]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Nobel_Peace_Prize

> The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to United States president Barack Obama (b. 1961) for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".

[markjenkinswpg]

Interesting summary. The relationship with some Arab speaking states has had some recent relevance.

[throwaway48476]

Black. It had a very high approval rate in Europe.

[dormento]

> black

> throwaway48476

Every time.

[dotancohen]

Doesn't mean that he's wrong, just that he knows it is an unpopular position. I can think of other positions that become fashionable or not with no relation to being correct or incorrect.

I personally don't know if he's right or wrong, I don't live in Europe, but the need to use a throwaway account is not evidence for being wrong.

[Zigurd]

The difference between whataboutism and discussion is that in discussion you propose an alternative. For example: how about that real estate developer who has fumbled multiple diplomatic initiatives?

That would be a basis for discussion.