Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in the War on Terror

Jean Henry Dunant, the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), was awarded the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. The ICRC has always been committed to defusing conflicts through negotiation with all parties involved.

In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize. Through this award, he became synonymous with a new world order of peace.

Barack Obama, the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, had ordered the killing of the wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden by a hit squad in an extra-legal action.

Bin Laden was indeed a wanted terrorist, so the action taken against him was most likely justified. But is a world in which a Nobel Peace Prize laureate can send out hit squads a world that stands for peace? Remember that the Nobel Peace Prize is the highest award for peace.

It is not Obama’s fault that he received the Nobel Peace Prize prematurely. As President of the United States, he has to make very difficult decisions of great importance. However, if the Nobel Peace Prize is to remain a basis for peacekeeping operations as former laureates such as Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Aung San Suu Kyi taught us, then future laureates must first have a proven track record. Premature praise may not be enough.