September 23, 2020 Issue, Page 4 of 8

Page Text

Page 4 The Elk City News, Elk City, Oklahoma ‘Wednesday, September 23, 2020 Point: Trump’s Nobel nomination is Opinion Page “ElkCituNews richly deserved Serving Western Oklahoma since 1901 By Claudia Rosett, In- of Iran. That’s a solid basis inept visionaries, and, on oc- Woodrow Wilson in 1919, How to manage sideSources.com Yes, President Donald for prying loose some of the casion, malign actors. If you ever find yourself wonder- and, more recently, Jimmy logjams in which no Arab Carter in 2002 and Barack risk-taking friends in the Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. He’s just bro- nation has recognized Israel since Jordan in 1994 and ing what Mother Teresa and Yasser Arafat had in com- Obama in 2009. Both Carter and Obama COVID-19 pandemic kered a landmark shift in the Middle East, in which two Egypt in 1979. Other Arab countries are mon, they were both Nobel Peace laureates. talked a lot about peace, but pursued policies of ap- By George Loewenstein and Elke U. Weber, Los Ange- Arab nations - the United showing interest in joining The criteria for the prize peasement that embold- les Times Arab Emirates and Bahrain this club. Oman and Su- are a muddle, dating back to ened enemies of freedom A good friend says no to an outdoor barbecue. Your uncle - have normalized relations dan sent envoys to attend confusion on the part of the and invited conflict. Cart- doesn’t stop by when he passes your town en route to a with Israel. the Abraham Accords sign- founder, Alfred Nobel, about er’s tenure saw the Islamic vacation. A friend fails to mask up in your car. These are a Last week, Trump hosted ing ceremony at the White how best to engender peace. revolution in Iran, and the few examples of how COVID-19 can spur misunderstand- a ceremony at the White House. Last month, when Nobel stipulated, reasonably Soviet invasion of Afghani- ing and even conflict. House with officials of all enough, that the prize should Israel and the UAE opened stan. Obama failed to coun- Such tensions in families and among friends add to the three nations, where they direct air traffic for the first go to “the person who shall ter the rising aggression of stress of managing life in a pandemic. In many ways, these signed “The Abraham Ac- time, Saudi Arabia cooper- have done the most or the Russia and China, led from kinds of conflicts boil down to differences between how cords,” named for their ated by opening its air space best work for fraternity be- behind as the Arab Spring scared we are or how safe we feel. shared biblical _ heritage, to allow Israeli commercial tween nations.” spawned ISIS, and produced Past research tells us that people differ in the risks they and accompanied by a joint overflights - also for the first But Nobel also wanted the an Iran nuclear deal that did find scary and seek to avoid, reactions that often are based declaration welcoming “the time. prize awarded to those who not block Iran’s path to the on subjective factors and feelings instead of facts. COV- progress already made be- These are big develop- had done the most to achieve bomb. ID-19 is no exception. tween Israel and its neigh- ments, the groundwork for “the abolition or reduction For an illuminating con- Many people who are at high risk for falling ill to the bors in the region” and prais- a coalition that could help of standing armies” and “the trast, look to President Ron- virus seem blithely unconcerned, while lower-risk people ing the continuing efforts to holding of peace congress- Israel, Arab nations and the are terrified. expand such friendly rela- United States in facing down es.” That sounds good, but ald Reagan, who built up the American military, stood up As a nation, we are more segregated into blue and red en- tions, in the interest of “last- the threat of the brutal and depends heavily on the cir- to the Soviet Union and won claves than ever. This means that most people don’t regu- ing peace in the Middle East predatory regime in Iran, cumstances, larly encounter others with opposite views. Trump-lovers and around the world.” while fostering, at long last, Reducing standing armies the Cold War. But Reagan and Trump-haters rarely share the same space. So, when Talk of peace has usually Arab-Israeli ties conducive can be fatal to deterrence, never won a Nobel Peace differences occur with people you love and trust over how been more mirage than real- to prosperity and peace. No in some cases inviting war Prize. to behave in a deadly pandemic - where geography and a ity in the Middle East, but wonder this approach in- rather than preventing it. Neither did World War II political divide is not necessarily present - the conflict can there are signs that after de- spired a member of the Nor- Likewise, peace congresses, victors Franklin D. Roos- be especially distressing. cades in the desert this is a wegian parliament to nomi- per se, do not always ensure evelt and Winston Churchill Social science provides some clues for why this is the realignment toward the real nate Trump for a Nobel. peace. President Woodrow (though he did win one for case. deal. Trump’s approach was That said, there’s almost Wilson won a Nobel for literature). As far as the No- First, there is a natural tendency to believe that the way to bypass the intransigent no chance the Nobel Com- founding the League of Na- bel represents a high honor, you see the world is the way the world really is, which psy- Palestinians, whose bosses mittee will opt for Trump. tions, an organization that Trump deserves it for the chologists call “naive realism.” have refused repeatedly to Not only is he a controver- began with the Treaty of Abraham Accords. But if he Most people don’t believe that their view of coronavirus bargain in good faith with sial American president, but Versailles and ended with doesn’t win it, he’s in good risk is simply one of a range of possible perspectives. In- Israel. the Nobel itself is an oddball World War II. company. stead, they believe their view is reality, and all other per- Instead, Trump focused prize. While widely revered Since the Nobel was first Claudia Rosett is a foreign spectives are clearly wrong. on bringing together Israel as one of the world’s top given out, in 1901, four policy fellow with the Inde- This means that those who are extremely worried about and some of the Arab states honors, the Nobel has been American presidents have pendent Women’s Forum. the virus find it appalling and even dangerous when they based on a shared inter- awarded over the years to an won the Peace Prize: Theo- She wrote this for Inside- see others go out and take what they think are unwarranted est in countering the threat eclectic mix of true heroes, dore Roosevelt in 1906, Sources.com. risks. Conversely, those who are willing to venture out may see people who don’t as being overly cautious or even non- sensical. Counterpoint: Trump’s Nobel Peace Believing that the people close to us have incorrect views about coronavirus risks is disquieting; believing they are making decisions that could potentially harm our health is Prize nomination a mistake downright corrosive. By Zachery Tyson Brown, ances, Trump has abrogated who just last week bragged Putin’s illegal seizure of Closely related to naive realism is the “false consensus InsideSources.com our treaties and abandoned about possessing a secret Crimea in 2014. He might as effect” - the tendency to believe that others have beliefs Four American presidents our allies. Where Obama nuclear doomsday weapon well have nominated Putin and attitudes that are more similar to our own than they have been awarded the No- entered office with a mes- - should be awarded the No- himself, because the Russian actually are. bel Peace Prize. sage exhorting Americans to bel would be laughable if it president is one of the few Let’s say you have a friend whom you think has views The first was Theodore reject fear and choose hope, weren’t so outrageous. world leaders to embrace similar to yours. If this person acts differently in a situation than you would, your first impulse might be to look for ma- Roosevelt, for his work to Trump did so by describ- Obama was nominated, what Trump supports. bring an end to the Russo- ing an “American carnage” according to former Norwe- Alfred Nobel gave few ign reasons to explain that person’s behavior. If that friend turns down your barbecue invitation, you might think that Japanese war. - which in retrospect seems gian Prime Minister Thorb- guidelines to choose future person can’t really be that scared of getting sick (since The second was Wood- like more of a promise. jor Jagland, on account of recipients of his prize. But you're not afraid), so you wrongly conclude that friend row Wilson, whose Fourteen From a pandemic that the aspirational tenor of his the first and most important simply doesn’t want to invest in your friendship. Points remain the framework presidential campaign. has needlessly killed more was that they had worked for By the same token, if you - as the more risk-averse per- upon which the liberal world Americans in a scant few “No one could deny,” Ja- fraternity between nations. son - fail to appreciate that a friend perceives COVID-19 order tenuously hangs. months than 20 years of ter- gland said, “that the interna- Theodore Roosevelt did that risks to be a lot smaller than you do, you might think that The third was Jimmy Cart- rorism and war, to a torrent tional climate had suddenly with an indefatigable spirit person’s failure to wear a mask in your car shows a lack of er, who was recognized for a of police brutality, violent improved, and that Mr. that brought two warring concern about your welfare or even an intent to harm. lifetime of post-presidential white nationalism and law- Obama was the main reason. There are ways to mitigate these misunderstandings, but emperors to the negotiation service advancing the cause less vigilantism, this year . We want to embrace the table. Woodrow Wilson did trying to convince others of the correctness of your own of human dignity and free- alone has brought the con- message that he stands for.” position is not one of them. Few people like to have their it by uniting the people of perceptions of reality challenged. And telling people they dom. tradictions between these Christian Tybring-Gjedde, the world, in spirit, if not in are biased doesn’t work either; when people learn about When President Barack two administrations into a far-right Norwegian parlia- deed. Jimmy Carter did it biases, they are far more likely to believe that others are Obama was the fourth to high relief. mentarian, nominated Trump with decades of untiring ef- biased than that they themselves are. be nominated in 2009, The overlapping medi- - ostensibly for his work to- Instead, a better approach starts with appreciating that fort to make our world a bet- his Republican detractors cal, economic, societal and ward a settlement between family members, friends and neighbors have genuine dif- ter place. Barack Obama did howled in outrage. But what civil-military crises of 2020 Israel and the United Arab ferences in how they assess and tolerate risks related to this it by inspiring people around disease. Their views are as real to them as yours are to you. Obama’s conservative critics have deepened impressions Emirates. An agreement was the world with the idea of Recognizing that your uncle or friend is very frightened missed was that the youthful of the United States as a signed, but both sides are America itself. by the virus, for example, makes it easier to see that their president was not awarded declining power unable to already disagreeing over its Instead of promoting behavior isn’t hostile or controlling, and is not really about the Nobel on the hopes of solve its own problems, let interpretation, and the Pales- you. Understanding the psychological basis of this conflict brotherhood between na- what he might accomplish, alone help anyone else with tinian Authority has rejected could help dispel the presumption of bad motives when but on the audacity of hope theirs. They have produced it outright. Even if we grant tions, Donald Trump has someone acts in ways we think are irrational or dangerous. itself - a quality Obama grim assessments of a for- the merits of the accord on only sown division, both at Moving beyond resentment might enable us to be more practically embodied, one mer superpower reduced to its face, however, Gjedde’s home and abroad. It is in- communicative and creative about handling social connec- sulting enough that his name that had propelled him to the the “sick man” of the 21st- motivations for nominating tions in a pandemic. Rather than excluding the friend who will forever be associated White House. century, even as a failed Trump are suspect. just returned from Arizona from your barbecue, ask that with those other presidents. person to wear a mask and BYOE (bring your own every- What a contrast between state. National pride is at an He is best known inside thing). Go for walks with a friend, but talk about social then and now. all-time low, and Americans Norway for anti-immigrant It should not mar the list of distancing rules first so there is no awkward confusion. Be President Donald Trump have entered the final weeks thetoric scarcely distin- Nobel Prize recipients. clear about preferring to drive alone if you’re uncomfort- would be the fifth American of a contentious election guishable from that of An- Zachery Tyson Brown, an able being in a car with your unmasked friend. president to win the Nobel more angry, ashamed and ders Breivik, the terrorist Army veteran who served Navigating such conflicts is complicated when health Peace Prize if selected by afraid as they’ve ever been. who slaughtered 77 people in Iraq and Afghanistan, and safety are on the line. But we won’t get very far unless is a security fellow at the the committee. But if Trump The notion that Donald in 2011. Outside of Norway, we are aware that the views of risk held by others may be very different from our own. embodies anything, it’s only ‘Trump - the man who earlier he is known as a strong sup- Truman National Security George Loewenstein a professor of economics and psy- mendacity and fear. Where this year attempted to start porter of Russian President Project, a founding member chology at Carnegie Mellon University. Elke U. Weber is a Obama said, “Yes We Can,” a war with Iran to distract Vladimir Putin, and coinci- of the Steady State, and a professor of psychology and public affairs and the Gerhard Trump said “Only I Can.” from his impeachment trial, dentally enough, an advo- Military Writers Guild board R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment at Where Obama sought to who just this summer called cate for Norway and the Eu- member. He wrote this for Princeton University. strengthen America’s alli- the world wars “beautiful,” ropean Union to legitimize InsideSources.com.