The prize is supposed to go to the individual or organization who has done the most for world peace in the preceding year.

Question: What was the most positive development on the geopolitical stage in the last 12 months?

Answer: The fact that the United States is now represented on that stage by someone who is engaging the world in a constructive dialogue that will make it possible for a lot of nations wary of each other to come together and address the global challenges of the present and future. It also helps that he openly repudiates the policies of the recent decades that have alienated the US from the rest of the world. It also helps that his skin color shows that America is truly overcoming its shameful history and gives comfort to non-white-majority nations that their voices will be heeded by world leaders. And it helps most of all that he isn't a smug hypocrite that lectures the world on democracy and values while engaging in imperialistic military and economic actions that kill and oppress innocent people.

Obama richly deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.