Nobel Peace Prize for European Union, Mired in Crisis

[didymus]

NY Times:

Nobel Peace Prize for European Union, Mired in Crisis

PARIS — The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded its 2012 peace prize on Friday to the 27-nation European Union, lauding its role over six decades in building peace and reconciliation among enemies who fought Europe’s bloodiest wars, even as the Continent wrestles with economic strife that threatens its cohesion and future. The award also seemed to illuminate competing visions of Europe as both historical unifier and meddlesome overlord, recalling deep strains within the bloc, primarily between Germany and other European nations over Berlin’s insistence on austerity to resolve the euro crisis, measures that have brought pain to Greece and Spain in particular.

Thorbjorn Jagland, the former Norwegian prime minister who is chairman of the panel awarding the prize, said there had been deep concern about Europe’s destiny as it faces the debt-driven woes that have placed the future of the single currency in jeopardy.
“There is a great danger,” he said in an interview in Oslo. “We see already now an increase of extremism and nationalistic attitudes. There is a real danger that Europe will start disintegrating. Therefore, we should focus again on the fundamental aims of the organization.”

Asked if the euro currency would survive, he replied: “That I don’t know. What I know is that if the euro fails, then the danger is that many other things will disintegrate as well, like the internal market and free borders. Then you will get nationalistic policies again. So it may set in motion a process which most Europeans would dislike.”
In announcing the award, Mr. Jagland described it as a signal focusing on the union’s historical role binding France and Germany together after World War II and its perceived impact in spreading reconciliation and democracy beyond the Iron Curtain that once divided Europe and on to the Balkans. “The stabilizing part played by the E.U. has helped to transform most of Europe from a continent of war to a continent of peace,” he said.

I know organisations have won the prize before, but a (sort of) government?

 

[austenbosten]

Ugh the Nobel Prize is getting more and more irrelevant with each passing day.

 

[Mystrx]

The peace prize has become a joke.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The peace of the looming economic graveyard, perhaps; unless one is a German, and perhaps even then.

 

[Trader]

The peace of the looming economic graveyard, perhaps; unless one is a German, and perhaps even then.

That might be part of their thinking. A committee of the Norwegian Parliament decided to give the honor, and presumably the cash prize, to an organization of which Norway is a member. It keeps the money in the family.

This same prize was previously awarded to Barack Obama, but not to Mahatma Ghandi.

Go figure.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That might be part of their thinking. A committee of the Norwegian Parliament decided to give the honor, and presumably the cash prize, to an organization of which Norway is a member. It keeps the money in the family.

This same prize was previously awarded to Barack Obama, but not to Mahatma Ghandi.

Go figure.

Well, Mahatma Ghandi was not in love with death, which probably disqualified him from the start.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

That might be part of their thinking. A committee of the Norwegian Parliament decided to give the honor, and presumably the cash prize, to an organization of which Norway is a member. It keeps the money in the family.

Norway is **NOT **part of the European Union.

This same prize was previously awarded to Barack Obama,

I don’t think he deserved it considering that he has been overseeing the wars that Bush & co. started in Iraq/Afghanistan. However, it was given for a different reason.

but not to Mahatma Ghandi.

Go figure.

It is presumed that Ghandi would have received the award, but he died before it could be given. That is the same year this particular Nobel prize went without a winner, I believe.

 

[Dale_M]

The peace of the looming economic graveyard, perhaps; unless one is a German, and perhaps even then.

Perhaps the EU got the Peace Prize as a consolation?

I heard the Nobel committee was firmly against awarding EU the Economics Prize (which will be announced next week.)

 

[Trader]

Norway is **NOT **part of the European Union.

I stand corrected. Thank you.

Norway is **NOT **part of the European Union.

It is presumed that Ghandi would have received the award, but he died before it could be given. That is the same year this particular Nobel prize went without a winner, I believe.

You may be correct here also. Ghandi was assassinated in January of 1948 and no Peace Prize was awarded that year, although the circumstances of his life and death showed him worthy of a posthumous prize.

 

[estesbob]

Everything one needs to know about how bogus this award is is to rails Yassar arafat got one, Ronald Reagan did not

 

[Trader]

Perhaps the EU got the Peace Prize as a consolation?

I heard the Nobel committee was firmly against awarding EU the Economics Prize (which will be announced next week.)

The Peace Prize is selected by a different committee than the one that awards the other prizes. The Peace Prize comes from Norway, the others from Sweden.

Perhaps Greece should get the prize for economics for perfecting the art of begging, and for being indignant that they did not get even more.

 

[Trader]

Everything one needs to know about how bogus this award is is to rails Yassar arafat got one, Ronald Reagan did not

As did Al Gore, but not John Paul II.

Maybe Kim Jong Il will be next.

You need to use your imagination on the fonts here. This one makes John Paul and Kim Jong look like they were related with the last name of Il.

 

[MugenOne]

EU wins Nobel Peace Prize for uniting continent: What??? Next year…Breast feeding mother. Funny how we find Nobel prize winner lately…Europe will soon be 2-3 nations…with most of the under chapter 11.

 

[He_Man]

I find graveyards quite peaceful, especially at night.

 

[EmperorNapoleon]

You may be correct here also. Ghandi was assassinated in January of 1948 and no Peace Prize was awarded that year, although the circumstances of his life and death showed him worthy of a posthumous prize.

The reason why it wasn’t awarded posthumously was because he had no will so the Nobel Committee didn’t have anyone to give the prize money to. In retrospect, its rather stupid reasoning but they did him a great honor in the end by declaring that there was no suitable living candidate and choosing not to award the prize to anyone else that year. He didn’t receive the award prior to that because, back then, their decisions seemed to have been based on results instead of the intent of the candidate so the violence in India and the Partition worked against him.

 

[Scott_Lafrance]

NY Times:

I know organisations have won the prize before, but a (sort of) government?

An entire continent won the prize. They are making this thing so irrelevant, its actually comical. After awarding it to Obama for…winning an election, I knew that the prize committee must be drinking heavily.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

An entire continent won the prize. They are making this thing so irrelevant, its actually comical. After awarding it to Obama for…winning an election, I knew that the prize committee must be drinking heavily.

He won for, among other things, his efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation.

 

[Nils]

I was laughing out loud when I read this yesterday. Maybe we could use the money to pay off a small per mille of some poorly run country’s debt or something…

Hey, at least I won the Nobel Prize!

 

[Scott_Lafrance]

He won for, among other things, his efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation.

How, as a lame duck US Senator who won his seat in a contest against a carpetbagger Republican who couldn’t win the office of dogcatcher in a community of 1 where he is the only candidate? Obama won the US seat, then almost immediately began his campaign for President. He did NOTHING OF SUBSTANCE in the name of peace, either before or after winning the US Presidency. The Nobel Peace Prize is a sham.

 

[Yerusalyim]

Why does anyone care? The Nobel Committee has no credibility and is completely irrelevant. It proves that each time it names a prize winner.