(CNN) – Israel and Lebanon will be among more than 50 countries experiencing armed conflict when the Nobel Peace Prize is announced in Sweden this Friday.
For that reason – and to send a message that “the institutions of the world order are incapable of reducing conflict” – the Nobel Committee should not award a peace prize this year, Dan Smith, director of the Institute for International Peace, told the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
In addition to war in the Middle East, there are conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, West Africa, Haiti, Myanmar and elsewhere, said Smith, one of the world’s leading authorities on the Peace Prize.
“There is fighting and killing on a scale we haven’t experienced since before the end of the Cold War,” he said. “Somehow we have to put more energy and attention into it.”
His “modest suggestion” is that the committee should retain the honor this year to highlight “the flaw in world politics right now”.
Prior to this, the Nobel Peace Prize has been suspended 19 times, including during the First and Second World Wars. However, it has been offered every year since 1972 without interruption.
While there are many deserving winners, not presenting an award would “send a very powerful message,” Smith said.
“At least for a moment, those who read newspapers, watch TV stories, and listen to radio news will be more or less forced to reflect on the fact that we live on an armed, warring planet, and we really need to pay attention.” For that problem,” he said.
