Prince Thakur
2 months ago
The Nobel Prizes will be announced against a backdrop of wars, famine and Artificial Intelligence
STAVANGER, Norway— When the Nobel Prize announcements start next week amid a cloud of violence and conflicts, the refugee crisis, starvation, and artificial intelligence may all be recognized. The prize week coincides with the Oct. 7 anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, which began a year of bloodshed and war across the Middle East. The Nobel Prizes in science and literature can be exempt. However, if the Peace Prize is given out at all, it will do so in an environment when global violence is on the rise and honors efforts to put a stop to strife.
The director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Dan Smith, said, "I look at the world and see so much conflict, hostility, and confrontation; I wonder if this is the year the Nobel Peace Prize should be withheld."
Along with the turmoil in the Middle East, Smith also mentions the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the war in Sudan and the potential for famine there, and research from his institute indicating that military spending worldwide is rising at the fastest rate since World War II.
According to Smith, "it could go to some groups that are marginalized despite their heroic efforts." "However, the trend is going the wrong way. Maybe it would be appropriate to highlight it by delaying the awarding of the peace prize for this year.
It is not new to withhold the Nobel Peace Prize. There have been 19 suspensions in the past, including ones that occurred during world wars. It was not given out in 1972, the most recent instance.
The Peace Research Institute Oslo's director, Henrik Urdal, disagrees, stating that it would be a mistake to withdraw in 2024 and that the award is "arguably more important as a way to promote and recognize important work for peace."
One could identify civil society grassroots organizations and international organizations whose goals are to reduce violence in the Middle East.
Although eligible nominators frequently make their selections public, nominees are kept a secret for 50 years. The Middle East-based groups EcoPeace, Women Wage Peace, and Women of the Sun have been nominated by academics at the Free University Amsterdam to support peace initiatives between Israelis and Palestinians.
Urdal thinks the committee might take into account the Sudan Emergency Response Rooms, a collection of community-based programs that offer assistance to starving and battered Sudanese victims of the deadly civil war in their nation.
The prizes for physiology or medicine are announced first on Monday, and then the prizes for physics, chemistry, literature, and peace on the following days.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm will announce the other prizes, while the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo will announce the Peace Prize on Friday. The economics prize will be presented on October 14 of the following week. Read more