Devaluing the prize

Posted By Kori Schake Friday, October 9, 2009 - 3:53 PM Share

It's nice that the Nobel Committee wants to shower the president with approval -- it's a good thing for the United States -- but it's likely to remind Americans that the president is being rewarded for behaving in the world the way Europeans behave.

It's less clear to me that it will improve the president's standing at home. I keep thinking of the comedian Tom Lehrer's explanation for why he stopped writing songs of biting political commentary: "When Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize, political satire lost its meaning." That the president received the prize for just being rather than for any actual achievement is likely to devalue the prize.

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Shadow Government is a blog about U.S. foreign policy under the Obama administration, written by experienced policy makers from the loyal opposition and curated by Peter D. Feaver and William Inboden.