Obama's Nobel Victory - Will he actually deliver ?

Obama has won the coveted Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." The Nobel Committee decided in favor of Obama after deliberating over 172 people and 33 organizations, the highest number of nominees in the history of Nobel Peace Prize.

Let's take a turn from the domestic impacts of this mind boggling victory of Obama and focus our attention towards the Muslim World. After all, it was Obama's efforts to bring peace into the region that caught the attention of the Nobel Committee. His address to the Muslim world in Egypt was a turning point in the U.S. foreign policy when the president accepted some grave mistakes of the US in handling the issues of terrorism and extremism.

His promise of a new policy towards the Muslim world was largely appreciated in the Muslim world with some dissenting voices. These people were of the opinion that although he has signaled a shift in US policies, there would hardly be any real changes on the ground. Although it is too early to say anything on this issue, his critics in the Muslim world are citing the deteriorating situation in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Pakistan, on the other hand, is going through its own quagmire and terrorism is eroding the very roots of Pakistani society (A recent bomb blast in Peshawar took 49 lives).

Indonesia and Malaysia, once known for their pluralistic and secular societies, are also seeing a shift towards extremism. Amid all this mayhem in the Muslim world, Obama has not yet mentioned his strategy for the broader interaction with Muslims. Additionally, there are concerns about him following his predecessor's policies with some "sugar-coated" changes.


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/saad-khan/obamas-nobel-victory-and_b_315325.html