The European Union (EU) has won the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. A press release from the Nobel Committee cited the EU’s “[contribution] to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.”
I can see why the Nobel Committee have judged the EU to have made a significant contribution to peace. Europe is one of a few regions in the world where democracy and human rights are of a consistently high standard.
However, the Nobel Committee have a habit of awarding the prize to large institutions and establishment figures. That is what I have a problem with.
I don’t think the work of the European Union will significantly change as a result of receiving the prize. It doesn’t need the prize money. The award won’t really change its level of power and influence either.
The Nobel Committee should consider how much the recipient would benefit from the prize. For some recipients the attention generated by the award has made a significant contribution to their struggle.
When Bishop Carlos Belo and Xanana Gusmao received the award in 1996 many would have considered that independence for Timor-Leste was an unrealistic dream. Yet a few years later the people of Timor voted for their independence.
When His Holiness the Dalai Lama received the award in 1989 he was little known as was the struggle of the Tibetan people. Today the Dalai Lama is one of the world’s most well known religious leaders and the Tibetan cause has won worldwide support.
Liu Xiaobo still languishes in a prison cell since receiving the award in 2010. However, the prize has given him a level of recognition far greater than he would otherwise have had.
The Nobel Committee made a big mistake in awarding the prize to Barack Obama in 2009. Since becoming President of the United States, Obama has continued to support the US military in its so-called “war on terror” and done nothing to advance the cause of peace. Being elected to the White House holds an extraordinary amount of prestige and power. The Nobel Peace Prize doesn’t really add anything to that and it only discredits the award when that power is used for the opposite of peace.
Other recent recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize, such as Kofi Annan and the United Nations (UN), and Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), haven’t sullied the award in the way that Obama has. However, the award hasn’t necessarily increased the effectiveness of their work.
I wish the Nobel Committee had considered how much giving the award to Sima Samar would have contributed to the struggles of women and Hazaras in Afghanistan.
I wish the work of Gene Sharp could gain more recognition. This theorist of nonviolent revolution works from a small office with limited resources, yet his ideas have inspired change around the world.
Perhaps it is time to stop paying so much attention to the Nobel Peace Prize. There are many other awards that recognise the efforts of those that struggle for human rights, democracy and justice. There are the Right Livelihood Awards, also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” Sima Samar and Gene Sharp, both mentioned above, were recipients of the awards this year.
The Goldman Prize recognises the efforts of environmental activists. There are many other prizes that similarly recognise the work of grassroots activists. Recognition of these unknown champions of peace and justice will help them to achieve change.
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