From Carter to Obama

I can't imagine I'm the only one who sees the Nobel Peace Prize as somewhat debased. Jimmy Carter's experience is instructive in this regard. The Nobel committee famously slighted Carter after -- after -- he negotiated the Camp David accord that led to a durable peace between Israel and Egypt. Many years later, he won it for the sum of his work (and yes, I have my strong feelings about that work, mainly negative) but the Nobel Committee did not see him as deserving at the time of Camp David, even though his achievement was remarkable. Now, thirty years later, an American president receives the prize with no concrete achievements in the realm of international peacemaking (or domestic policy, for that matter) to his name. This is a decision that might come back to haunt the Nobel committee. I hope not, but it might.