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“I think I’m going to receive a Nobel Prize for many things. If they gave it fairly, they wouldn’t. They gave it to [Barack] Obama immediately after he became president and had no idea why he won it. You know, it was the only thing I agreed with him. “
The remarks are from Donald Trump and were given at a press conference in September 2019, more than a year after the US president was first nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize due to efforts to normalize the relations with the United States. North Korea and its historic summit with leader Kim Jong-un.
Since then, his administration has negotiated a peace accord with the Taliban in Afghanistan, allowing the US military to withdraw from the country (as it is doing with Iraq), and the White House was the site of the signing of the historic Abraham Accords. . that allow the normalization of relations between Israel and two Arab countries, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. In addition, the United States also helped Serbia and Kosovo sign an economic agreement, although Belgrade did not achieve official recognition from the republic that declared its independence in February 2008.
Obama was awarded in 2009 “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation among peoples,” despite being responsible for expanding the drone bombing program in Afghanistan and Iraq. And victory is not something he mentioned many times, he was surprised and studied the possibility of not traveling to Oslo to receive the award.
Former committee leader Geir Lundestad regretted the election in 2015. “Even Obama supporters believed that the award was a mistake,” he wrote in his memoirs. “In that sense, the committee did not achieve what it expected,” he said, indicating that the idea was to strengthen the US president.
But handing out another Nobel Peace Prize to another US president – Obama was fourth, after Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter (already after leaving the White House) – does not seem likely. Even more so because we are one month away from the presidential elections on November 3.
It would be another “October surprise” after the Republican candidate tested positive for covid-19, and it is still unclear what impact this will have on the campaign. In American political jargon, the “October surprise” is an unexpected event (some can be planned) that can influence the way voters vote.
Three nominations
Trump was nominated at least three times for the Nobel Prize: two far-right MPs, a Norwegian and a Swedish, and a group of Australian law professors. The first, Christian Tybring-Gjedde, who had already appointed President of the United States in 2018, compared the impact of the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (the news came before the agreement with Bahrain was also known) with the fall of the Wall of Berlin.
Swedish MP Magnus Jacobssson did not directly appoint Trump, but rather his administration and the governments of Kosovo and Serbia, for the economic agreement they signed. Australian professors have claimed that Trump “is really bringing peace to the world in a way that none of his predecessors did and that he really deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.”
A group of Dutch far-right MEPs also recently tabled a resolution calling on the European Union to nominate Trump, claiming that a “closer look” at his record “can only lead to the conclusion that he has dedicated his presidency to the world peace. and with considerable success. “
It was they who announced the nominations, which have been officially kept secret for half a century, but since they are related to events that occurred in the second half of the year, they should not arrive in time for the 2020 award (nominations must enter until 31 January) and can only count to 2021. Still, the White House welcomed when the first nomination was fulfilled, with Trump’s press officer Kayleigh McEnany speaking of a “deserved honor” for the president.
But even if there are nominations for Trump for this year’s Nobel Prize, that doesn’t mean he will be honored by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Especially so close to the US presidential elections, despite Trump being the fourth favorite according to bookmakers. Former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic White House candidate, was also nominated, but it will again be in time for the 2021 award. British Labor MP Chris Bryant proposed the name, highlighting “his dedication to argument and political debate over a period of time. Political turmoil in the United States. “
Markers
Candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize can be nominated by deputies, university professors, previous winners or heads of state, among others. According to the official list of the Nobel Committee, there are 318 candidates for the award to be announced on Friday, of which 211 are individuals and 107 organizations. There have been no awards 19 times, especially during the two world wars, with 1972 being the last year that the award was not awarded.
In a year of a COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) tops the list of bookmakers’ favorites. The United Nations agency, which was created in 1948 to improve global health, is currently led by Ethiopian Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. However, the accusations that the WHO has not responded to the pandemic that has been detected in China and that it is too close to Beijing – some of the reasons that have led the United States to announce that it intends to leave the agency – they can harm it.
The one who has received praise for the way she handled COVID-19 is New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Coupled with what is considered inspiring leadership, especially after the 2019 attacks on mosques in Christchurch, make him a strong candidate to win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. However, the fact that New Zealand’s elections were postponed, initially scheduled for September 17, but the pandemic forced them to postpone them until October 17, cannot play in their favor either. The elections are not as contested as those in the United States (polls place it comfortably in the lead), but even so the award may not look good because of the proximity of going to the polls.
Another favorite, as it had been last year, is the young Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Despite the fact that the issue seems to have been overlooked because of covid-19, it marked the year 2019 and the appointments ended on January 31, so the 17-year-old teenager who launched the strikes for the climate classes can be among the fixed. Experts believe that if he wins, he will win with other activists, also to draw attention to the fact that the problem is global.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who already won in 1954 and 1981, is another that is well placed on the betting lists. Two other organizations are in the top 10: the European Union, which would be strange in a year of Brexit, and Reporters Without Borders. The movement Black Lives Matter (black lives count) also enters this classificationBut the choice of the anti-racism movement, which has its main focus in the United States, could also be seen as too political on the eve of the American presidential elections.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in for his dialogue efforts with North Korea is also on the hot list, ending with former Microsoft boss Bill Gates who has become a philanthropist.
Last year, the Nobel Peace Prize went to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, distinguished “for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation and, in particular, for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with the neighboring Eritrea “.
