It's Time to Make Nominations for the Next Nobel Peace Prize

By Fredrik S. Heffermehl and Tomas Magnusson

"… this year's Peace Prize … speaks to the core of Alfred Nobel's will and Nobel's vision of fraternity, disarmament and peace-building forums. Not because the [Tunisian] Quartet has actively sought to promote disarmament, but because its work has led to a better platform for peace and non-violent resolution of conflicts. This is a story about building strong institutions to ensure justice and stability, and demonstrating the will to engage in dialogue and cooperation." —Nobel committee chair Kaci Kullmann Five, in opening words of 2015 Nobel speech                                                                           

1. WHO SHOULD WIN THE 2016 NOBEL? – MAKE NOMINATIONS 

The quote above very likely is a result of the lawsuit the NPPW initiated in Sweden. It means that the Nobel Peace Prize Watch campaign to reclaim the peace prize is making progress. Eight years ago Nobel and his will were entirely forgotten; in 2015 his intention was the opening of the committee chair's speech.

The progress should be used to promote good nominations, of qualified candidates, for 2016. The right to nominate is limited, to parliamentarians, certain professors, and others, all over the world. See details and list here: http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/nomination_intro/nomination_criteria/ . Absolute, final deadline is Feb. 1. Send by Jan 31 to postmaster@nobel.no.

If you are not entitled to nominate, please seek out someone who is.

For the first time since the 1990 speech for Gorbachev, the Nobel awarders have addressed and (honestly) confirmed Nobel's intention. It may be only a tactical move in the lawsuit. To lock the committee to their words we recommend all nominations to open by commending the committee chair's opening words in the speech for the Tunisian Quartet, adding that Nobel clearly had the relations between nations, global “peace-building forums,” in mind. (The correspondence about the peace prize between Alfred Nobel and Bertha von Suttner makes this perfectly clear).

A good nomination takes time, please start the process at once – and please give an extra thought to potential candidates from non-Western countries.

2. LAWSUIT TO SECURE PRIZE FOR CORE PEACE WORK

We wish to see an end to the misuse of the prize for Western political agendas. After 8 years of futile attempts to have Alfred Nobel's intention respected we initiated a lawsuit in Stockholm. See our website http://www.nobelwill.org.

For an illustration of who Nobel intended to support see our list of the 25 qualified to win among the near 300 actually nominated for 2015: http://www.nobelwill.org/index.html?tab=7#list

While there, please sign the appeal and consider a donation to the work of NPPW/Lay Down your Arms to promote a weapons-free world An ambitious goal – but why should we be less bold and ambitious than Nobel (and Bertha von Suttner, and Andrew Carnegie) were over 100 years ago?

We need 10,000s of USDs for lawyer fees, so please contribute. A lawsuit is different. For once, our movement has a legal right to respect for its arguments. We can win! A small investment can secure an annual $1 million for efforts for a weapons-free world! This is good, efficient fundraising, but we have to be very precise. As long as we wish all kinds of peace work to win, the awarders will also feel free to promote the Obamas, the EU …, and continue to ignore the antimilitarist core purpose of Nobel.