My one minute writing prompt this morning is to write about who I would recommend for the Nobel Peace Prize. I guess President Obama’s recent award has spurred on a lot of discussion and commentary especially due to the fact of the timing of the award so early on in his term. I must admit I was quite surprised to hear of his award and it spurred me on to do some research on the actual award and how it is given, etc.
According to Alfred Nobel’s will the prize should be awarded “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses,” (Wikipedia) Well, I certainly do not qualify!!!
What was surprising to me was maybe some of the people who did NOT get the Peace Prize. Most of these recipients I am unfamiliar with but some of them seemed like obvious choices from my sparse knowledge of history. The judges are 5 people from Norway —Nobel’s theory was there would be less political corruption if Norway was the final judge of who received it since at the time he created it Norway and Sweden were joined and Sweden was responsible for all foreign policy.
In 2009 there were a record 205 nominations! Unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which recognize completed scientific or literary accomplishment, the Nobel Peace Prize may be awarded to persons or organizations that are in the process of resolving a conflict or creating peace. (Wikipedia)
Okay— so I keep thinking about this and my limited knowledge of who should receive this award who hasn’t so far and all I could come up with was Ghandi. The Committee has confirmed that Gandhi was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and, finally, a few days before he was murdered in January 1948. Seems like he should have gotten more than just a nomination sometime. But it is good food for thought today, don’t you think?? To think about who has promoted peace and fought for it. There are a lot of good people doing good things out there to promote peace and it makes me want to learn a little bit more about the whole process. But for today those are my thoughts!!!!
