OSLO, Oct 1 (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump will not win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize as he wages war with Iran, but his influence will still be felt by the awarding body that picks the laureate, according to experts.
Last year’s award, to Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado, was unique in the prize’s 125-year history, coming amid repeated lobbying by Trump to get the award. Weeks later, Machado gave her gold Nobel medal to Trump, in a bid to win support for her efforts for a democratic Venezuela.This year, the five-strong body will be mindful of picking someone who can withstand pressure from Trump, according to Haakon Gjerloew, acting director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo.
“I think last year’s events around the Nobel Peace Prize, Maria Corina Machado giving it to Trump afterwards, will affect some of the considerations that they make,” he told Reuters.
“One worry the committee might have is whether awarding it to someone could put them under pressure from Donald Trump … I think the committee will consider whether the award does more harm than good.”
Leo, the first US-born pope, has said he would continue to speak out against war, after the president called him “weak” for criticising the US conflict with Iran.
The Pope’s encyclical on AI, his advocacy for dialogue and the peaceful resolution of conflicts, his calls for respect for migrants and his humanitarian work could justify a prize.
“The Pope stands (for) more than just as a religious figure. He has emerged as a leading thought leader,” Karim Haggag, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, told Reuters.
Italy’s Albanese, meanwhile, has been under fire from the US and Israel for her criticism of Israel’s conduct of its war against Hamas in Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank.