For all the recognition of George W. Bush’s unpopularity, it’s easy to overlook the ways in which the international community was truly mortified by the U.S. leadership during the Bush era. The irreplaceable leading nation could no longer be trusted to do the right thing — on use of force, torture, rule of law, international cooperation, democratic norms, even climate change. We’d reached a point at which much of the world was poised to simply give up on America’s role as a global leader.
And, love him or hate him, President Obama changed this. I doubt anyone on the Nobel committee would admit it, but the Peace Prize is, to a certain extent, an implicit “thank you” to the United States for reclaiming its rightful place on the global stage.
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