Saturday, October 13, 2007
The curse of the Nobel Peace Prize
I admit, I hadn't thought of the Gorebel Prize in quite this way:
Now that he has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Al Gore joins an elite club, one that includes presidents, activists and holy men. It is also a club that is, by some accounts, cursed. Past winners have fallen into ill repute, been assassinated — and simply faded from public view.
The Nobel Peace Prize was named after a man who made his fortune by inventing dynamite — one of the many contradictions of a prize, arguably the world's most coveted, that was first awarded in 1901.
Mikhail Gorbachev won the prize in 1990, just before the collapse of the country that he was trying to reform. Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan got the prize in 2001. Shortly afterward, the Iraq "oil-for-food" scandal erupted and Annan's reputation was tarnished, some say irrevocably. Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi was the laureate in 1991, and has barely been out of house arrest since.
South Koran leader Kim Dae-Jung won in 2000 for his efforts to hasten reconciliation with North Korea. Those efforts have since faltered. Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was awarded the prize in 1978 (along with Menachem Begin). The next year, he was assassinated. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was also assassinated a year after being awarded the prize.
Even Mother Teresa, who won in 1979, has seen her saintly reputation take a hit lately. A recent book published private letters that revealed a woman who suffered long periods of religious doubt and spiritual emptiness.
And if Gore thinks winning the prize might bolster his political fortunes, he might stop to consider the case of David Trimble. The Northern Ireland leader was awarded the prize (along with John Hume) in 1998. His political career has since nose-dived. He lost a 2005 bid for re-election to the British Parliament and has been largely overshadowed by a rival politician, Ian Paisley.
"There seems to be some kind of curse on the Peace Prize, or at least on many of its recipients," concludes British commentator Martin Walker.
Well, Norway's massive per capita wealth does come from exporting oil. Maybe it's all a nefarious oil industry plot!
6 Comments:
By 
, at
Sat Oct 13, 09:24:00 PM:
I thought Alfred Nobel was Swedish. Maybe the prize givers are envious of their neighbor's wealth.
By 
TigerHawk, at
Sat Oct 13, 09:35:00 PM:
He was, but the Peace Prize is determined by a panel of Norwegian parliamentarians. So five Norwegian politicians pick the winner, which explains a great deal.
By SR, at
Sat Oct 13, 10:41:00 PM:
This is like a lot of things political these days (I'm thinking about the status of small town mayors) the more PC the honor or office, the less important they get. Nobels are mostly given for actual accomplishments in science economics, etc.
The peace prize is a notable exception.
By , at
Sat Oct 13, 11:14:00 PM:
Just in- the Supreme Court has overturned the decision of the Nobel committee and awarded the prize to George Bush.
By , at
Sun Oct 14, 12:49:00 AM:
And YASSIR(TAHTS MY BABY)ARAFAT also got it and he was leader of the notorious PLO now AL GORE gets it for a big fat lie
By Purple Avenger, at
Sun Oct 14, 02:12:00 AM:
Want to see some similar travesties, google up the recipients of the medal of freedom.
