In the course of an analysis of Obama's Nobel-acceptance speech James Fallows offers a good summary of the themes it has in common with his previous set-piece speeches; Obama's guiding principles, if you like:
The embrace of contradictions (in this case, a defense of war as a means to peace); the long view; the emphasis on institution-building; the concern about the distortion of religious and ethnic loyalties; and above all a consciousness that was once called Niebuhrian and at this rate will someday be "Obamian," which emphasizes the importance of steady steps forward in an inevitably flawed world.
This is also a good point:
As with his Philadelphia speech, he made the speech about the most awkward issue of the moment, rather than trying to avoid it.
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