Five Ways Obama Can Still Earn the Nobel Peace Prize

Wow, we've had tremendous expectations for President Obama on the pursuit of peace this year. For some, just beginning to reverse the great tension in foreign relations caused by the Bush Administration turned out to be enough for a Nobel Peace Prize (Northern Europe comes to mind).

For others, preventing nuclear war, the Afghan and Iraq wars, eliminating poverty in America, and giving Iran and Al Qaeda cause to re-think whether they really want to be enemies would be the requirements for the global hero epithet (peace activists, for starters).

Obama himself was quite befuddled yesterday when he accepted the Nobel, compelled to explain why he was conducting a war. He makes a good point, however, that as he may not yet have earned the award, it is now a call to action. As his team felt trapped by the Afghan conundrum in its first year and disappointed many in calling for an escalation ahead of withdrawal, this following year could still offer opportunities to turn things around.

Here are some recommendations from Change.org on how Obama could win back the full support of peace activists and prove more worthy of the prize he just received...

First, let's start with the minimums asked for by peace activists. If he accomplishes all of the minimums and at least one of the electives, then he could be seen legitimately as a hero for peace. Ideally, he'd accomplish them all, but first thing's first...

Minimums (These are already on his agenda, so it is a matter of following through):

1. AFGHANISTAN. Restore power to an Afghan authority capable of protecting human rights as well as democracy and rule of law; withdraw US and NATO forces as soon as possible.

2. LANDMINES. Endorse the International Mine Ban Treaty and similar calls to ban weapons which threaten civilians and farmland, such as cluster bombs, spider mines, and chemical weapons. Have a transparent discussion with the public and legislators about the potential exceptions like financing, enforcement, and the Korean division zone.

3. CHILD RIGHTS. Endorse the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Have a transparent discussion with the public and legislators over how to get over the final hurdles including the use of under-18s in the US military and the language regarding abortion.

At least one this year, if not more (These are Herculean calls to action, but he now has the resources to make substantial progress, if not support another global entity to do so):

1. DARFUR. Follow through on promises made in the campaign on Darfur, Sudan.

2. SOUTHERN SUDAN. Fully empower the UN, EU, and AU joint commissions on the referendum about independence for Southern Sudan. Ensure clarity on the border and oil revenue flash points as early as possible to prevent potential ethnic expulsions in the disputed areas of the north-south border if the vote happens to go for independence. Otherwise, central Sudan could turn out even worse than Darfur by 2011.

3. NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION. While staying the course in preventing new nations from developing nuclear weapons, including keeping countries like Israel from launching attacks which could lead to even more complexity, make substantial progress in reducing stockpiles in the US and former Soviet Union.

4. CHEMICAL WEAPONS. Israel, Russia, and the US are still using white phosphorus and CS. Other areas including southern Russia, northeastern and southeastern Iraq, southwestern Iran, Vietnam, and elsewhere continue to suffer the after-effects of chemical weapons like Serin and Cyanide. Include this huge nightmare within the talks on nuclear non-proliferation. It should not only be about ending their current use, but also about treating and funding epidemiological studies for people still suffering.

5. SOMALIA. Nonviolent countrywide peacebuilding through indigenous organizations, as well as substantial development of the peaceful areas of the country, is key to saving Somalia.

[Photo: David Katz]