Expert Says Alfred Nobel’s Will Being Disrespected by Peace Prize Selections
Frederick S. Heffermehl is an expert on the Nobel Prize, which is based on the will of Alfred Nobel, a respected Swedish industrialist who sought to make the world into a better place. Heffermehl says that by giving the prize to men like Barack Obama, Al Gore and others who maintain the military machine, the Nobel committee is falling grossly off course.
Has the prize lost it’s value as a symbol of our commitment to world peace? According to a recent interview with Heffermehl, it certainly has:
For years, Heffermehl has been writing books and penning opinion pieces in the Norwegian media arguing that the country’s Nobel Committee, in charge of awarding the Nobel Peace Prize each year, is failing to follow the last will and testament of the Swedish industrialist whose fortune served as the basis for the prize.
Nobel’s will states that the prize should be given to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.
But in awarding the prize to politicians such as Barack Obama, Henry Kissinger or even Al Gore, whose work is with the environment and not peace and disarmament, the committee has failed to adhere to the will of the deceased benefactor, Heffermehl argues.
In the run up to this year’s peace prize announcement, set to take place on Friday in Oslo, The Local checked in with Heffermehl to hear his thoughts on the problem.
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