Lene Johansen, a native of Norway, writes in Reason magazine that that the politicians involved in awarding the Affirmative Action Nobel are doing it partly for their own self-aggrandizement, and partly because of "Norwegian ambitions for being an international powerbroker in humanitarian work":

I can see Jagland being ingenuous enough to think the Nobel Prize will help Obama bring Obama-style hope and change to the rest of the world. When the TV2 reporter asked him about a potential domestic backlash against Obama due to the award, Jagland was clueless.

“They should be proud of a leader that shows such a good stance to the world, and who promotes the will of the world community the way he has done,” said Jagland.

It is not the first time he makes bad judgment calls in foreign policy. While he was Secretary of State in 2001, he called the president of Gabon “Bongo from Kongo” on national television. The Norwegian version of the Onion, Opplysningskontoret, ran a story stating the Nobel Prize was awarded to Bongo from Brooklyn. There were 100 versions of this joke on Twitter on Friday.

Obama’s embarrassment was due to Jagland’s desire to reinstate his public image as a statesman. The most telling sign is probably a comment Jagland made in one of his post-announcement interview.

“It was exciting to meet the world press,” he said. “One of the most exciting things I have done.” [The Truth About Obama's Nobel Prize| Nobel Prize Committee Chair Thorbjørn Jagland is shamelessly seeking the spotlight, October 13, 2009]