Word: hardes
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...like most head-scratchers right now, Lepri isn't likely anytime soon to learn how the Nobel committee came to its decision - or precisely why. For all the attention focused on its annual award, the Nobel committee is a cloistered, enigmatic operation, as hard to read as the Soviet Politburo. While its website - the only source of information the organization provides to outsiders - broadly explains the nominating and selection process, it does little to illuminate inscrutable details like what criteria defines the eventual winner, and just who weighs in on the choice. Identities of non-winning candidates - and those...
...members are women, with chairman Thorbjørn Jagland, the only male in the bunch. Like Jagland - a former premier and foreign minister of Norway - most members have had held cabinet posts or have otherwise been involved in politics; their ages range from 58 to 68. But it's hard to draw any theories about how that group works when the Nobel website also notes that in deciding the peace award, the committee is aided by "permanent advisers", "Norwegian university professors with broad expertise in subject areas", and occasionally "Norwegian and foreign experts...
...when reality bites, it chomps down hard. The Nobel Committee cited "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Some of those efforts are faulted by his critics - those who favor a missile shield for Poland or a troop surge in Afghanistan or a harder line on Iran. But even his fans know that none of the dreams have yet come true, and a prize for even dreaming them can feed the illusion that they have. (See the top 10 Obama-backlash moments...
...Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader and 1990 Nobel Peace Prize winner "I am happy. What Obama did during his presidency is a big signal - he gave hope. In these hard times, people who are capable of taking responsibility, who have a vision, commitment and political will, should be supported...
...over its positions on Iraq, Lebanon, Palestinian militant groups and Iran. Syria has warmed to the Obama Administration's offer of engagement and has welcomed a series of U.S. diplomatic delegations for talks about peace with Israel and cooperation with American goals in Iraq. "I believe Obama is working hard for peace," Muhammad Habash, a Syrian member of parliament and the director of the Islamic Studies Center in Damascus, told the Wall Street Journal. "We in Syria believe that Obama's initiatives have been suitable and that Syria is now witnessing important steps to correct the relationship with the United...