EDITORIAL: The Nobel Peace Prize
2008/10/13
If it hadn't been for Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland who won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, more people would have been victims of conflict.
Ahtisaari, who was president of Finland from 1994-2000, has a distinguished record as an international mediator, having brokered peace in many regional conflicts, among them, the former Yugoslavia, the Aceh province of Indonesia and Northern Ireland. The Nobel Committee no doubt chose Ahtisaari not only to commend his 30 years of diplomatic service and recognize his efforts but also to highlight the need for conflict mediation in our post-Cold War world.
Two years ago, the Nobel Committee focused on eradicating poverty for its Peace Prize; last year it was global warming. It seems this year, the panel sought to return to the original definition of the peace prize, to honor those who served to prevent the atrocities of war.
Ahtisaari was a forty-something diplomat in the late 1970s when he first experienced the world of conflict mediation with his appointment as United Nations envoy to Namibia in southern Africa, to mediate peace talks between warring parties.
In the 1990s, after the Cold War had ended, the number of regional conflicts increased around the globe, and with it, the need for Ahtisaari's services. (214 words)
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