Change in attitude earns peace prize

It should not come as such a surprise that the Nobel Committee awarded its peace prize to an American president for little more than a change in attitude.

Mr. Obama's predecessor pursued unilateral policies and questionable uses of military power, all underpinned by indifference to the opinions of the rest of the world and even, when it was politically convenient, snide disrespect even for our allies. Who can forget President Bush's juvenile comments about needing no "permission slip" from other nations, as if Germany and France were priggish schoolmarms?

Our current president ran for office on a policy of multilateralism. He continues to maintain that we should at least try to make peace with our enemies rather than make snide remarks about friends who do not support our every move. He canceled a major defense initiative that would have antagonized another powerful country which we cannot consider a friend even though its name is no longer the USSR.

All of these approaches carry political risk. Right-wing conservatives are not the only Americans who feel better when displaying strength than when compromising and conciliating even those who like to show scorn for us in public. We Americans are very much like everyone else in this way.

The fact that our president will take those political risks in order to pursue a more conciliatory, cooperative, international order is - in itself, without any clear results yet to show for it - a great and important act of peacemaking. Were he the leader of another country, that might not be the case, but he is the president of the United States of America, which makes all the difference in the world.

God bless our President, and God bless the USA.

Seth Eisner

Arlington Heights