It's extremely difficult to make an absolute call on whether Barack Obama was deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize this year. It comes somewhat as a surprise considering the short length of time he has held office, and even more surprising when you realise that at the time he was nominated, he had been President for only two weeks.
Whether or not he was a good choice depends on a number of criteria, although at the most fundamental level it is worth taking a look at the Will of Alfred Nobel, which states that the recipient of the Peace Prize ought to be "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".
To begin with, Obama had the colossal advantage of being the political successor to George W. Bush, whose gross unpopularity and incompetence was apparent to many Americans and virtually all people outside the United States. So, in a rather oblique way, he managed to become a point of commonality and unity amongst a wide range of people from all parts of the world. However, despite his campaigning point of promoting multilateral diplomacy, the goal of reducing standing armies does not appear to reflect his recent actions; it seems 34,000 extra troops will be headed to Afghanistan next year, for example.
On top of this, it's arguable that there were far more deserving winners of this year's peace prize - Morgan Tsvangirai (Zimbabwe's prime minister) and Hu Jia (a prominent critic of China's human rights abuses) immediately come to mind. Obama, by his own admission, was undeserving. The Nobel Committee is undoubtedly aware of the exposure it can create in awarding a prize, and it would've likely been far more effective in the pursuit of genuine peace to highlight work done by an individual who would otherwise remain relatively obscure compared to Obama. Presumably they were hesitant to risk offending Robert Mugabe or China - personally I believe that no concession or concern should be given to such groups that would react in a petulant or arrogant manner.
Regardless of whatever criticisms are directed at this choice of recipient, most could agree that the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to far more controversial and undeserving figures such as Henry Kissinger and Yasser Arafat. So, whilst it can arguably be said that Barack Obama has contributed comparatively little to world peace, any criticism of him as a Peace Prize recipient falls short in light of what the aforementioned men have been responsible for.
Links:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/10/09/dabashi.obama.nobel.prize/index.html
http://www.theroot.com/views/why-obama-deserves-nobel-peace-prize
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/10/2009109152410715115.html
http://en.rian.ru/world/20091012/156432294.html
http://www.mideastyouth.com/2009/10/09/why-obama-does-not-deserve-the-nobel-peace-prize/
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/79380.html
Friday, November 27, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Vegetarianism in Japan
I'm not vegetarian myself, and whilst I've had a few vegetarian (non-Japanese) friends living here in Japan, it's not something I had to seriously consider until my girlfriend came to visit over the summer. She's been vegetarian for over half her life, so, as you can probably guess, it's a matter she takes quite seriously.
It's not such a big issue if you have your own residence with a kitchen in which you can make your own meals, although travelling around and frequently eating at restaurants presents a significant problem unless you're willing to frequently eat white rice, edamame, and convenience store snacks. Saying "vegetarian" (or even 菜食主義者) didn't quite suffice - I also had to specify that fish or any other form of seafood is also off-limits, as are animal-based stocks/broths/sauces, which immediately eliminates almost any soup dish and other seemingly innocuous dishes such as agedashi tōfu.
It turned out that places such as kushikatsu restaurants were a good option, where we were able to choose individual items to be cooked. On top of that, the strictly vegetarian meals at the Mt Koya temple in which we stayed were absolutely stunning, and also very filling.
Anyway, I find it curious and also somewhat inexplicable that whilst I have a large number of vegetarian and vegan friends in Australia, I've never met any Japanese people with such dietary habits despite the common notion of Buddhist-based vegetarianism. Most of those aforementioned friends tend to base their vegetarianism on their strong regard for animal rights, and often equal to that, the environmental impact of meat consumption. Whilst the West has a long way to go (and being omnivorous myself, I can only criticise to a certain extent) I feel that the welfare of animals isn't given much consideration in Japan, even when it comes to domestic pets.
It's not such a big issue if you have your own residence with a kitchen in which you can make your own meals, although travelling around and frequently eating at restaurants presents a significant problem unless you're willing to frequently eat white rice, edamame, and convenience store snacks. Saying "vegetarian" (or even 菜食主義者) didn't quite suffice - I also had to specify that fish or any other form of seafood is also off-limits, as are animal-based stocks/broths/sauces, which immediately eliminates almost any soup dish and other seemingly innocuous dishes such as agedashi tōfu.
It turned out that places such as kushikatsu restaurants were a good option, where we were able to choose individual items to be cooked. On top of that, the strictly vegetarian meals at the Mt Koya temple in which we stayed were absolutely stunning, and also very filling.
Anyway, I find it curious and also somewhat inexplicable that whilst I have a large number of vegetarian and vegan friends in Australia, I've never met any Japanese people with such dietary habits despite the common notion of Buddhist-based vegetarianism. Most of those aforementioned friends tend to base their vegetarianism on their strong regard for animal rights, and often equal to that, the environmental impact of meat consumption. Whilst the West has a long way to go (and being omnivorous myself, I can only criticise to a certain extent) I feel that the welfare of animals isn't given much consideration in Japan, even when it comes to domestic pets.
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