A Grand Misjudgment

Gore's Peace Prize

By JAN OBERG

Nagoya, Japan.

The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize - particularly the part to Al Gore - is a populist choice that cannot but devalue the Prize itself.

Alfred Nobel wrote in his will that the Peace Prize should be awarded to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."

Without diminishing the importance of global warming and the work done by this year's recipients - the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes (IPCC) and Al Gore Jr. - it is highly disputable whether it qualifies as a PEACE prize in the spirit of Alfred Nobel - even if interpreted in the contemporary world situation and not that of 1895 when Nobel formulated his vision.

The concept and definition of peace should indeed be broad. But neither of the recipients have made contributions that can match thousands of other individuals and NGOs who devote their lives to fighting militarism, nuclearism, wars, reducing violence, work for peacebuilding, tolerance, reconciliation and co-existence - the core issues of the Nobel Peace Prize.

It is also regrettable that the Prize rewards government-related work, rather than civil society - Non-Governmentals, making the implicit point that governments rather than the people make peace.

In particular, Al Gore - as vice-president under Bill Clinton between 1993 and 2001 was never heard or seen as a peace-maker. Clinton-Gore had a crash program for building up US military facilities and made military allies all around Russia - and missed history's greatest opportunity for a new world order.

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http://www.counterpunch.org/oberg10122007.html


I hate the term "New World Order"

Bet he had money on Limbaugh winning.