Ex-Nobel secretary, Geir Lundestad, admits that awarding the committee’s esteemed Peace Prize to Barack Obama in 2009 was a mistake.
A press release at the time announced that Obama had earned the award based on “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” though he had only been in the White House mere weeks when he was nominated. The committee awarded the prize to Obama based entirely on his media popularity, not based on anything he actually did.
Lundestad, aside from admitting that the stunt had proven a failure, revealed the reason behind it wasn’t exactly in keeping with the credibility of the panel or the award, once a symbol of excellence.
