The politics of the “Peace Prize”.
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Barack Obama {Photo: Wikimedia Foundation}
The Norwegian Nobel Committee1 has announced the 2009 prize winner US President Barack Obama.
“We would like to enhance, to support what he is trying to do.”
![Naomi Klein [Photo: Wikimedia Foundation]](http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/fensterm/files/2009/10/522px-NaomiKlein.jpg)
Naomi Klein {Photo: Wikimedia Foundation}
British-Pakistani historian, journalist and activist Tariq Ali was also interviewed on DN! [They tried to reach journalist Jeremy Scahill3, but had technical difficulties.] In his talk at Harvard, Tariq expressed his doubt that US military activity in Pakistan is in the US long term interest. In today’s interview he points out, among other things, that the war in Iraq-Afghanistan goes on apace with an increase in troops in Afghanistan. Tariq pointed out some of the questionable awards in the past.
1Note that the ‘Nobel Prizes’ are awarded in memory of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel and presented by the King of Sweden. My favorite anomaly is the inclusion of the Bank of Sweden Prize, not funded from the Nobel estate, with the Nobel prizes. This does not make Amartya SenA the spawn of satan, but it tarnishes his halo a bit. Robert Merton and Myron Sholes who won “for a new method to determine the value of derivatives” [mortgage backed securities anyone?] , on the other hand, clearly are the spawn of satan. We don’t need to make a fuss about the Late Larry Summers’B hero Milton Friedman, but one has to wonder how someone who gets people fired for wanting to regulate underbacked highly liquid securities can be regarded as a monetarist.
2Naomi, offered her critique of Milton Friedman and his disciple Donald Rumsfeld, in her book, The Shock Doctrine. Basically, Friedman who favored ‘non-interventionist government’ nonetheless thought that the only way to get there is by engineering ‘shock and awe’.
3Jeremy is the chronicler of “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army.”
ASen has a quality that the LateB Larry Summers will never be accused of. He is disarmingly charming.
BFor those who have, for whatever reason, not been following tgbtd, is there life after Harvard?
