A few days ago, the Nobel Committee announced that the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize is the United Nations' organisation, the World Food Programme. Now that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 has been awarded, the Committee will start considering the nominees for 2021, and select a winner. Donald Trump has recently been nominated for this prize by a Norwegian politician. While this recommendation may have raised several eyebrows, many others believe that this president truly deserves this prize. So today’s question is, is Donald Trump worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize?
First, let’s look at the criteria for the Peace Prize. According to the will of Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Peace Prize must be bestowed upon “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.
Has President Trump met these standards? Since his election in 2017, here are Trump’s achievements in promoting international peace and cooperation.
First and foremost, Trump recently negotiated a deal between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel, suspending the Israeli annexation of the West Bank and normalising relations between the three countries. The three agreements - the separate deals Israel has with the UAE and Bahrain, and a general statement by all the parties involved, including the United States - are known as the Abraham Accords. Until this settlement, only two nations in the Middle East, Egypt and Jordan, had accepted Israel as an independent country. The Abraham Accords show that two more states now acknowledge Israel’s permanent status in the Gulf, taking a huge step towards harmony in this region.
The above is just one example of Trump’s famous skill in negotiation. Another is the pact he signed with the Taliban, to create peace between this organisation and the USA. This is a tremendous accomplishment, as the two parties involved had been involved in an 18-year-long war before this. The war began in 2011, after the Taliban refused to hand over Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the terrorist attack on September 11. Trump’s deal with the Taliban was the first step to ending it, and bringing peace to Afghanistan.
Now, while Trump may have numerous achievements in terms of world peace, we must also consider his merits in comparison with previous winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, four of whom were presidents of the USA, as well.
For example, Barack Obama, Donald Trump’s predecessor, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The Nobel Committee also mentioned that “dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts.” According to the Nobel Committee, Obama “created a new climate in international politics.” From their reasoning, it is clear that they awarded him the Peace Prize for his general ideas and plans (like the vision of a world without nuclear weapons), rather than specific deeds. If President Obama earned the Prize just for his policies, President Trump is certainly a valid candidate as he has actually realised his goals.
While Trump has worked extremely hard for world peace, his alleged bigotry detracts from his achievements. Some of his most prejudiced actions were proposing a ban on immigrants from Muslim-majority countries entering the USA, constructing a wall to keep out Mexican migrants, and tweeting several racist opinions. Can his efforts towards global peace compensate for such agitational deeds within his own nation? Despite his discrimination against specific races, does Trump deserve 2021’s Nobel Peace Prize?
