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The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Has the Nobel Peace Prize Been Corrupted?

WASHINGTON

The recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize is scheduled to be announced on Friday.

FREDRIK HEFFERMEHL
Author of the new book The Nobel Peace Prize: What Nobel Really Wanted, Heffermehl argues that the Nobel committee has violated the terms of Alfred Nobel's will, which established the prize.

He states that for decades, the parties in the Norwegian parliament have misused the Nobel committee seats to reward party veterans lacking insight in the peace ideas that Nobel wished to support. Heffermehl writes that over half of the awards since 1946 have not conformed with the intention of Nobel, who wished to change the international system in order to end wars and armaments.

The book is based in part on the private diaries of Gunnar Jahn, who chaired the Nobel committee for over 20 years and documented how the majority of committee members routinely overruled his pleas that they must respect the kind of active peace work Nobel intended to support.

A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.