This morning was actually like every other morning – after checking my emails and Facebook, I briefly wanted to check what was new in the world. The headlines I then saw were surprising: Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. My first thought was „WOW – this is so cool!“ . Now, a few hours later, I am thinking about it again and wondering, if it really is that great.

The Nobel Peace Prize was given to him due to„his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples“ (source: CNN). Did Obama really do this? He has been the President for only nine months now. When the nomination phase for the nobel prize came to an end, he was in office for only a month. Since his inauguration he visited various countries all over the world and held speeches about a world without atomic weapons and also about enviornmental issues. But are these speeches alone sufficiant for him to win the nobel peace prize? In the end, I say: YES! Obama makes us remember that if we want peace, we can only suceed if many countries pull together on one strand. Even before his presidency he held speeches and came clear about his thoughts and wishes – amazing millions of people. Even his speech he held today concerning his win was touching and again showed how „normal“ he is: He seemed as surprised as everyone else on the world. You should not see his win of the nobel peace prize only as a gratification for his past efforts. You should also see it as a motivation for him and direction into the future that he continues his chosen path. However, the pressure that has been resting on him anyways, grew through all of this now. Future will show if he can handle it. And hopefully this actual positive part of his life does not turn into something negative, by the pressure overwhelming him and then him making mistakes. But he does have (at least) four years time…