Saturday, November 6, 2010

The Nobel Peace Price and Politics

According to the Nobel prize website, the '[t]he Nobel Peace Prize 2010 was awarded to Liu Xiaobo "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China".' The Frontline (Volume 27, Number 22, Oct 23-Nov 5, 2010) carries an article by John Cherian on the selection of the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Cherian gives a few examples of controversial nobel peace prizes including those to Henry Kissinger, Barack Obama (2009), Menachem Begin (1978). Cherian points out that during the cold war, the "dissidents in Eastern Europe" were given the Nobel Prize. He also states that even the Nobel Prize for Literature has not been without controversy on a similar issue. Do check out the Frontline article from here. An interesting novel, The Prize, by Irving Wallace, is based on the Nobel Prize.

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