The Nobel Peace Prize

This morning as I was listening to the news one of the headlines was "Should Dennis Rodman Get the Nobel Peace Prize for his trip to North Korea?"

My reaction was absolutely not! Since when does a sports figure visiting the leader of a foreign country qualify him to be nominated, or to win, the Nobel Peace Prize.

I went to Wikipedia to see what the intent was by Alfred Nobel for the Peace Prize, and the following is what I found:

Per Alfred Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall 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".

Each year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee specifically invites qualified people to submit nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. The statutes of the Nobel Foundation specify categories of individuals who are eligible to make nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. These nominators are:
  • Members of national assemblies and governments and members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
  • Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the International Court of Justice at the Hague
  • Members of Institut de Droit International 
  • University professors of history, social sciences, philosophy, law and theology, university presidents and directors of peace research and international affairs institutes
  • Former recipients, including board members of organizations that have previously won the prize
  • Present and past members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
  • Former permanent advisers to the Norwegian Nobel Institute
Former winners of the Peace Prize include:
Albert Schweitzer - 1952
Martin Luther King - 1964
Henry A. Kissinger - 1973
Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat and Menachem Begin - 1978
Mother Theresa - 1979
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War - 1985
United Nations Peacekeeping Forces - 1988
Mikhail Gorbachev - 1990
Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk - 1993
Jimmy Carter - 2002
Barack H. Obama - 2009
Just to mention a few notable ones.

Apparently Dennis Rodman has told Sports Illustrated: “Why it’s been left to me to smooth things over, I don’t know. Dennis Rodman, of all people. Keeping us safe is really not my job; it’s [President Barack Obama's] job," the former Chicago Bull said. "But I’ll tell you this: If I don’t finish in the top three for the next Nobel Peace Prize, something’s seriously wrong."

All I can say is this - in my opinion Dennis Rodman does not deserve to receive the Nobel Peace Prize or to be listed with the above winners.

And that is what is on my mind today.



Comments

  1. Shri Sai RamJuly 3, 2013 at 2:10 PM

    Those who deserve to get a nobel prize do not jump up and down to say "Pick me pick me". They quitely do their duty and move forward. What is a nobel prize really? It could be a boost to the ego and that's why people like Mr. Rodman are interested. Just my opinion. :-))

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