As you have probably heard, President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize.  Some are already grumbling that the prize was undeserved because he has few accomplishments on which to base the award.  They are missing the point.

To a large degree this award says more about who is giving it out than who is receiving it.  And if you look at it that way, bestowing the Nobel Prize on Barack Obama represents an affirmation of Europe's desire for American global leadership.  After eight years of American rhetoric and policy that was at times indifferent to cooperative approaches to maintaining international peace and security, one might have expected the Europeans to have become equally indifferent.  What this prize shows, however, is a deep affection for the promise of American leadership.

 It is now up to president Obama to deliver.