The name of the new Nobel Peace Prize laureate will be known today at noon on Friday. Critical discussion about the award recipients has increased.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce the recipient of this year’s Peace Prize today, Friday. According to the Reuters news agency, at least 286 people or entities are in the running.
Well-known candidates include, among others, the Secretary General of the UN António Guterres, pope Francis and British naturalist David Attenborough.
In some years, the Nobel Committee has been heavily criticized for its selection. According to critics, some of the awardees have received recognition far too early or despite being involved in various conflicts.
See below four examples of peace prizes that have sparked debate in their time.
Nobel 2012: European Union
The European Union received an award for its work to promote peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.
The choice was criticized, among other things, because the EU countries taken together were considered to be one of the world’s largest arms manufacturers. In addition, there were economic difficulties causing inequality, such as the Greek debt crisis, writes, among others, the US news channel CNBC.
– At that time, the EU was and still is indirectly involved in various conflicts. Weapons have been sold and exported to regions and states that have used them in armed conflicts, says a senior researcher at the Institute for Foreign Policy From Katariina Mustas.
– Many EU member states were involved with various contributions in, for example, the Iraq war. The EU is still trying to build an image of itself as a well-intentioned actor, while migrants aspiring to Europe are drowning in the Mediterranean.
Nobel 2009: Barack Obama
President of the United States Barack Obama according to many reviewers, received the award far too early. Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize after only seven months in office. Even many of his supporters saw the award as a mistake.
– It perhaps understandably raised criticism about whether the award came prematurely. However, Obama had not yet had time to do much as president, Mustasilta says.
– He justifiably appeared to be an inspiring, bringing people together and a modern president, but during his time drone attacks increased and many armed conflicts started or expanded.
Nobel 1994: Israel-Palestine Peace Agreement, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat
In 1994, the peace prize was awarded to the Prime Minister of Israel at the time Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and the head of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Yasser Arafat.
The choice was criticized, among other things, because it would not end the hostility between the Palestinians and Israel. Arafat was also deemed unfit to receive the award.
According to researcher Katariina Mustasilla, from today’s point of view, it can be said that the criticism was justified. There is still no peace in the region.
– Awards are sometimes also intended to encourage continuation, as it were. We want to communicate that good steps have been taken and have been involved in valuable processes, and recognition is given for that, says Mustasilta.
Nobel 1973: Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho
US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was awarded in 1973 together with the General of the North Vietnamese Army Le Duc Thon with about achieving a truce in the Vietnam War.
The award was criticized because Kissinger had ordered bombing raids on Hanoi at the same time a ceasefire was being negotiated.
– This includes the risk that the awardees will later do things that seem to eat away at the justification of the award, Katariina Mustasilta says.
Today, grassroots work is often rewarded
Researcher Katariina Mustasilta sees positively the fact that in recent years the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded more often than before to organizations and activists representing civil society, who do grassroots work or strive for collective good and peace building with their work.
– There is more and more critical discussion about who deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, Mustasilta says.
Nobel prizes have been awarded since 1901. During the world wars, they were not distributed.
The late president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008.
The Nobel committee considered Ahtisaari’s efforts for more than three decades to resolve international conflicts on several continents worthy of the prize.