Norway or the Highway: What the Nobel Peace Prize tells us about Europe's values--and Obama's.

By JAMES TARANTO
OCTOBER 13, 2009

It is agreed by all and sundry that the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama was a rebuke of George W. Bush, private citizen. But who are the members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, what do they stand for, and what does this award tell us about the man who will be America's president for at least the next three years and change?

George Friedman of Stratfor.com analyzes the first two questions. The Norwegian Nobel Committee consists of five current or former members of Norway's Parliament, known as the Storting. We don't know if we like the Storting, as we have never Storted. But each of the committeemen comes from a different political party, and Friedman writes that the panel "faithfully reproduces the full spectrum of Norwegian politics"--although something tells us that that spectrum runs from left to far left. the rest map