The world’s press is divided on Barack Obama being conferred the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. The Times of India carried out its post headlined - Lifetime award for debutant Obama.

However, I definitely agree that Barack Obama of all the people in the world ’should have’ got the award. Please pay attention to my words here. He might not ‘deserve’ it, but it was the ‘need of the times’ to have given him the award.

In short, it was a masterstroke by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Why do I think so? My reasons are:

1. Prima facie, it looks like the Norwegian Nobel Committee has taken a preemptive action to make sure that the man who created history on taking the exalted office riding on a huge wave of global hope and change does not deviate from his mission and live up to the world’s expectations.

These expectations include:

a) Settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
b) Bridge the divide between West and Islam.
c) Work towards global hunger and diseases, especially in Africa.
d) Contain the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of rogue and bellicose states like North Korea, Iran and Pakistan that is threatening global security today like never before.
e) Get US in a major way to fight climate change.

The world does not need to be reminded the kind of misery and mess the Texan neo-con brought upon the world. It gives a lot of meaning to the Prize itself, considered the highest recognition in the field, for having in conferred to a man upon whom the majority of mankind’s hope is pinned upon.

Yes, if at all it was anyone for the Peace Nobel for 2009, Barack Obama is the one.