President Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples.” Whilst Aspecks agrees with the line of thinking taken by the Nobel Committee that Obama embodies precisely the international policy and attitudes that it has sought to stimulate for 108 years, the award seems a little like tokenism, after all who else in the world is capable of generating as many headlines. So does Obama deserve the award or is this just a finely executed (well-intentioned) publicity stunt that raises the profile of the Nobel Committee and the values it espouses?

Obama has indeed made some bold steps since taking office, including the calls for nuclear disarmament and the negotiations surrounding the stalled Middle East peace process, but eight months in the White House is hardly enough time to redecorate let alone achieve any measurable outcomes. Indeed the award is all the more surprising considering that nominations closed a mere two weeks after Obama had won the election. Moreover, political will is always susceptible to compromise so that policy change is often slow to manifest successful results in reality. After all the US and Russia have only agreed to reduce the number of nuclear warheads they possess, not get rid of their nuclear programmes entirely. Perhaps the award to Obama would have been sweeter to digest if it had been given to him at the end of his Presidency (in eight years hopefully) when he has had the time to actually achieve some of his goals.

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“A black man, a purple man, a martian man can run the country….as long as he does right by the people.”

The interview below took place on the BBC’s Newsnight programme the week of President Obama’s election in November of 2008. Although this is only an abridged version of the interview, when you watch the full interview, it should be clear to all that Jeremy Paxman (the interviewer) is inferring that the topic of conversation was above Dizzee’s intellectual capabilities (even though I do like how he calls him “Mr Rascal”)! In truth I think Dizzee more than holds his own (even if he could have been better briefed – Aspecks is available for such tasks!), he clearly appreciates the positive effect the election had and understands the importance of having a President who is mixed race, who can be held up as a symbol of unity.

‘Mr Rascal’ also makes some interesting points regarding political parties and appears happy to admit his slight ignorance of their activities and importance to the political process. He also reveals his apathy towards politicians (not exactly a revelation but one that reflects a wider public sentiment), effectively stating that they are all fairly similar irrespective of party allegiance and that every now and again you might get a ‘genuine one’. However, he then points out that change occurs when everybody comes together to make a difference and that whilst a high-profile individual such as Obama can have a morale boosting effect, it is the people, the community who can affect real positive change in society.

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