The award of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize is a bold choice. It rewards President Santos of Colombia for his great political courage, and for his ability to think in a strategic, long-term and principled manner about what is needed to bring peace to his country. Santos is also a “classic” choice for the prize…. Read more »
Month: October 2016
Most Importantly a Nobel for the Colombian People and the Victims of the Civil War
The Norwegian Nobel Committee emphasizes that the award of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize to the Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos is not only a prize given in recognition of his own personal efforts to end the more than 50 year old civil war in the country, but that this award is also given to… Read more »
A Nobel for Colombian Peace Makers? Yes! (But to whom?)
In its current state, the Colombian peace process not only deserves but could in fact highly benefit from the symbolic effects that go hand in hand with being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Recently, in a tight vote, Colombians said ‘No’ to supporting the peace agreement between the government and the FARC-EP. While we, the… Read more »
White Helmets in the Dark Night
In the long dark night that is the Syrian nightmare, the White Helmets have become the only ray of light. In an earlier PRIO blog post, Erica Chenoweth observed that “there are really two types of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates – elites (or elite-led institutions) and ordinary people.” This year, for example, the Colombian nominees… Read more »
This Week in South Sudan – Week 39
Monday 26 September Nearly 40 aid workers, the majority from UN agencies, have been evacuated from Jazeera and Nhialdu in Unity State due to deteriorating security. Tuesday 27 September A faction of the South Sudan Democratic Movement/Cobra Faction has again vowed to wage war against the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) citing failure to implement… Read more »
Svetlana Gannushkina – A Worthy Nobel Laureate
– Svetlana Alekseevna! A young Syrian man comes running towards Svetlana Alekseevna Gannushkina in the winter cold of the asylum reception center in Kirkenes, Northern Norway. – How are you doing? So glad to see you here after all these weeks since we met in Moscow, he smiles. – Ahmed, Gannushkina smiles back – how… Read more »