Many people seem incredulous, I think it makes sense when you look back at European history. European integration is a major factor that today Western Europe is at peace (and there isn't even the slightest bit of danger of there being a war among Western European nations) and doesn't look like the Balkans.
A war between Germany and France is completely unimaginable, no matter how much the government in France and Germany might disagree, a war wouldn't even make sense. Yes, the Cold War also contributed to that, but European integration helped create a Europe that is not in disarray. Sure, there are heated debates, crises and arguments (as should be expected and is very much normal), but unlike in the past there is practically no danger that those arguments could turn into war.
There are many things I do not like about how the European Union is set up (most of that is historical baggage – creating the EU was a hard, long and necessarily convoluted process), but with a peace prize I can agree.
But why now? The Nobel Peace Prize is supposed to encourage. Sometimes they are a bit early with their encouragement (see Obama), but that's the general idea. This is to say yes, the European project might have flaws, but it has also been a force for good.
I used to think that the Peace Nobel Prize was a way to honor someone who did something to advance peace. Then Al Gore got the prize for nothing related to war or peace, then Obama got the prize and now the EU. What a joke.
Yeah, slowly nurturing and fostering 60 years of peace on a traditionally war-torn continent through peaceful economic and political integration. What a joke.
Ever heard about the war in Yugoslavia? The clock was reset about 20 years ago. Or about the continued involvment of many of its members in Irak, Afghanistan or more recently in Lybia? Or about their enduring support of the industry of armament? The UE never did anything to prevent wars or end them. That's where the joke is.
The EU did not end all wars everywhere and create world peace, but between it's members (and the members of the EEC before that) it sure did keep peace pretty well.
Translated page for those of you who don't read Norwegian.
The announcement is made at 11 am local time, but the government run media had received confirmation that the European Union will win the price this year.
In the past I thought Nobel prizes should honor individual accomplishment, or at most the joint accomplishment of three individuals. That has been the rule until now, but it's changing, and I can see the logic of the change -- sometimes what's being honored is genuinely an institutional accomplishment.
Next year, it's likely we'll see a physics Nobel honoring CERN for discovering the Higgs -- another appropriate example of an institutional Nobel.
The Peace Prize committee is an entirely separate entity from the rest of the Nobel committee and like to make up their own rules. The committees responsible for the science prizes are still bound by the rule that each prize can only be awarded to 3 people or less.
> The committees responsible for the science prizes are still bound by the rule that each prize can only be awarded to 3 people or less.
ITYM s/less/fewer/
Yes, but there's talk that this longstanding convention may be at least temporarily broken with next year's physics Nobel. Little more than a rumor at this point.
I feel like the world would be a better place if everyone who is involved in the decision making process for the peace prize was removed from that authority, and they just started giving the award to the local "good samaritan" in random, incredibly poor places that meet a threshold level of peacefulness. If it was known globally that being a nice person in a peaceful, poor place could get you a million dollars...
A war between Germany and France is completely unimaginable, no matter how much the government in France and Germany might disagree, a war wouldn't even make sense. Yes, the Cold War also contributed to that, but European integration helped create a Europe that is not in disarray. Sure, there are heated debates, crises and arguments (as should be expected and is very much normal), but unlike in the past there is practically no danger that those arguments could turn into war.
There are many things I do not like about how the European Union is set up (most of that is historical baggage – creating the EU was a hard, long and necessarily convoluted process), but with a peace prize I can agree.
But why now? The Nobel Peace Prize is supposed to encourage. Sometimes they are a bit early with their encouragement (see Obama), but that's the general idea. This is to say yes, the European project might have flaws, but it has also been a force for good.