Ensayo

Caracas, 15-10-2012

Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize (Norwegian and Swedish: Nobels fredspris) is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature. Since 1901, it has been awarded annually (with some exceptions) to those who 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.
Per Alfred Nobel's will, the recipient is selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, a 5-member committee appointed by the Parliament of Norway. Since 1990, the prize is awarded on December 10 in Oslo City Hall each year. Theprize was formerly awarded in the Atrium of the University of Oslo Faculty of Law (1947–89), the Norwegian Nobel Institute (1905–46) and the Parliament (1901–04).
Due to its political nature, the Nobel Peace Prize has for most of its history been the subject of controversies.

Background
According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who "shall have done the most orthe best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."
Alfred Nobel's will further specified that the prize be awarded by a committee of five people chosen by the Norwegian Parliament.
Nobel died in 1896 and he did not leave an explanation for choosing peace as a prize category. As he was a trainedchemical engineer, the categories for chemistry and physics were obvious choices. The reasoning behind the peace prize is less clear. According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, his friendship with Bertha von Suttner, a peace activist and later recipient of the prize, profoundly influenced his decision to include peace as a category. Some Nobel scholars suggest it was Nobel's way to compensatefor developing destructive forces. His inventions included dynamite and ballistite, both of which were used violently during his lifetime. Ballistite was used in war and the Irish Republican Brotherhood, an Irish nationalist organization, carried out dynamite attacks in the 1880s. Nobel was also instrumental in turning Bofors from an iron and steel company to an armaments company.
It is unclearwhy Nobel wished the Peace Prize to be administered in Norway, which was ruled in union with Sweden at the time of Nobel's death. The Norwegian Nobel Committee speculates that Nobel may have considered Norway better suited to awarding the prize, as it did not have the same militaristic traditions as Sweden. It also notes that at the end of the 19th century, the Norwegian parliament had becomeclosely involved in the Inter-Parliamentary Union's efforts to resolve conflicts through mediation and arbitration.

Nomination and selection
The Norwegian Parliament appoints the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Nomination
Each year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee specifically invites qualified people to submit nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. Thestatutes of the Nobel Foundation specify categories of individuals who are eligible to make nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. These nominators are:
-Members of national assemblies and governments and members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
-Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the International Court of Justice at the Hague
-Members of Institut de Droit International-University professors of history, social sciences, philosophy, law and theology, university presidents and directors of peace research and international affairs institutes
-Former recipients, including board members of organizations that have previously won the prize
-Present and past members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
Former permanent advisers to the Norwegian Nobel Institute...