WASHINGTON — Now that he’s Nobel laureate Barack Obama, will he find smoother sailing for his plans to rid the world of nuclear weapons, to forge Mideast peace and stabilize Afghanistan, to halt climate change?
Not likely.
The Nobel committee members made no bones about it: Helping Obama achieve ambitious peacemaking goals was their goal in awarding the prize Friday to an as-yet mostly unaccomplished U.S. president.
But while the prestige could give Obama and his efforts a boost, nations steer their courses according to their own interests and little else. U.S. lawmakers, too, aren’t going to be influenced in politically difficult votes on climate change legislation or nuclear-reduction treaties by the Nobel Peace Prize, no matter who wins it.
That’s not to say it wasn’t an impressive achievement.
At just 48 years old and not even nine months in office, Obama became only the third sitting U.S. president to win the prize.
The widespread reaction, however, when the stunning news hit the nation was: For what?
