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well known, the USA spends almost as much on defence as the rest of the world put
together, and defence spending was rapidly heading for the one trillion dollar mark
before recent budget cutbacks. Spending on arms on this scale might lead one to
think that pacifism was not one of the country’s core values, and many people were
surprised when Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2009,
particularly as it came soon after he announced a surge in American troop numbers in
Afghanistan.

Here we can draw a contrast with another possible candidate for Dhammaraja
and fellow winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, namely his holiness the Dalai Lama. If
we compare the acceptance speeches of the two men, we notice a striking
difference. The Dalai Lama spoke of Gandhi, altruism, love, compassion and non-
violence, making reference to the teachings of the Buddha and the great sages of
India and Tibet. President Obama, however, struck a more sombre tone, speaking of
the reality of evil and the failure of pacifism to counter Hitler and Al-Qaeda. He
offered a justification for war, saying that it was an unavoidable necessity in certain
circumstances. He was, of course, the same president who authorised and proudly
announced the death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of US special forces in May
2013, and who continues to prosecute the war on terror through drone attacks on
11
terrorist groups.

So which of these two Nobel Peace Prize winners is expressing the authentic
views of a Dhammaraja? In a sense, they both are. The Dalai Lama is accurately
describing classical Buddhist teachings, as a glance at the Dhammapada will confirm.
There, we read in verse 129: ‘All tremble at violence, all fear death. Comparing
oneself with others one should neither kill nor cause to kill.’ And in verse 405: ‘He
who has renounced violence towards all living beings, weak or strong, who neither
kills nor causes others to kill—him do I call a holy man.’ On the other hand, President
Obama is stating a position similar to that found in some Mahayana texts and
manifest in the conduct of historical Dhammarajas who have become national heroes,
like king Dutthagamini in Sri Lanka. Buddhism has not been immune from the effects
of the explosive cocktail of religion and nationalism, as many recent studies have
revealed, and while in an ideal world the Dhammaraja would rule without coercion or
violence, in the real world an army is almost always necessary. The Dalai Lama has
been criticized by some, mainly younger, members of the Tibetan community for not
adopting a more robust policy towards the Chinese. So, perhaps what is needed is a
‘middle way’ or fusion of theory and practice, including an admission that a Buddhist
‘just war’ doctrine is needed, one which prioritises peace but recognises, as did
Ashoka and many subsequent Dhammarajas, that no wrong is done in resorting to the International panel discussion
use of limited force as a last resort when clearly defined conditions are fulfilled. If
this qualification is accepted, then President Obama can be said to score positively on
the final criterion of security.

11 The President announced in May 2013 that the war on terror was over, which is puzzling in the
light of continuing drone attacks and the closure of many US embassies in August 2013 following
intelligence reports of imminent threats from Al Qaeda.