Nobel Peace Prize controversies often reach
beyond the academic
community. Criticism that have been levelled against some of the awards
include allegations that they were politically motivated (Wikpedia)
- The 2009 prize went to Barack Obama "for
his
extraordinary efforts to
strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".
The award, given nine months into Obama's presidency; receiving
criticism that it was undeserved, premature and politically motivated.
- The 2007 prize went to Al Gore and the
IPCC, "for their efforts to
build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate
change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to
counteract such change".
- The 2002 prize was awarded to Jimmy Carter
for "decades of untiring
effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to
advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social
development."
- The 1994 prize went to Yasser Arafat
... groups under Arafat's direct
or indirect command – including Fatah, Black September, Tanzim and Al
Aqsa Martyrs Brigade – were responsible for hundreds of bombings,
hijackings, assassinations and other attacks, including the 1972 murder
of 11 of Israel's Olympic athletes in Munich, the 1973 murder of the
American ambassador to Sudan, Cleo Noel, and the 1985 hijacking of the
Achille Lauro cruiseship (resulting in the murder of wheelchair-bound
Leon Klinghoffer).
- The 1992 prize was awarded to Rigoberta
Menchú for "her work for social
justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for the
rights of indigenous peoples". The prize-winner's memoirs, which had
brought her to fame, turned out to be partly fictitious.
Kerry fits right in, wot?
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