The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to individuals or organizations promoting peace, as specified in Alfred Nobel’s will. It differs from other Nobel Prizes and can be awarded for current efforts. Controversial candidates include Hitler, Stalin, and Arafat, while others include MLK, Mother Teresa, and the Dalai Lama. Nominations are kept private and can be made by eligible individuals. Despite criticism, it remains a prestigious award.
The Nobel Peace Prize is an award awarded to an individual or organization in accordance with Alfred Nobel’s living will. Alfred Nobel, creator of the five Nobel prizes, was a Swedish inventor and industrialist. He stipulated in his will that the prize be awarded to “the one who shall have done more or better work for the brotherhood of nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses” . The Nobel Peace Prize differs from the Nobel Prizes in literature, physics, chemistry and medicine or physiology in that it can be awarded not only to individuals, but also to organizations that are actively engaged in a process or endeavor that it intends to promote peace in the world . The award may be given for current efforts, rather than for achieving a goal or solving a problem.
Having been awarded since 1901, the Nobel Peace Prize is considered a very astute accolade, but some past candidates and recipients have created controversy. Adolf Hitler was nominated in 1939, but the nomination was withdrawn. Other candidates include Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini and Yasser Arafat. Arafat received the award, as did Henry Kissinger and Mikhail Gorbachev. Due to the practice of awarding the prize on the basis of a work in progress, it stands to reason that some recipients may appear to be poor choices in retrospect; however, many recipients have been lifelong promoters of peace and human rights, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, and the Dalai Lama.
An individual or organization may be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by any eligible individual, including former recipients, university professors, international leaders, and members of national assemblies. The list of nominees is kept private each year, and while a group or individual may subsequently be termed a nominee, this title has no official merit. The nominees and recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize between 1901 and 1951 are currently entered into a database. There are those who publicly criticize the award as being politically left-leaning and not recognizing real merit, but even with past controversies, it continues to be a canny accolade that few would refuse to accept.
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