Nobel Peace Prize 2010

[Just_Boy]

(I didn't find a thread related to this)

It was awarded to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, which was followed by a severe outrage and all sorts of and by China.

The point of these awards has never been to offend anyone but to recognize advances. Surely Liu Xiaobo deserves it. But I didn't expect the Scandinavian committees to stand up against China after it's initial reaction, let alone slap it flat on the face by presenting the award to an empty chair.

So is the Nobel foundation trying to restore the credibility of this particular award after it made a mockery of it last year.
No matter how much Liu deserves it, I don't think anyone would have been surprised if they changed their minds anytime during the last few weeks.

 

[yolland]

The Nobel Peace Prize is almost always intended to send a message to the recipient's adversaries (who might or might not be offended), as well as to inspire others to follow in the recipient's footsteps, and to honor the recipient in his/her own right. In that sense, awarding the Prize to Obama wasn't the shocking aberration some perceived it to be, though there certainly was a widespread perception that the Nobel Committee had way overemphasized the 'send a message' aspect with that choice.

For the same reason, it's not at all surprising that they went ahead and gave Xiaobo's award to an empty chair. Had they backed down following China's protests, that would've dealt a deathblow to the Prize's credibility.

 

[Just_Boy]

In that sense, awarding the Prize to Obama wasn't the shocking aberration some perceived it to be, though there certainly was a widespread perception that the Nobel Committee had way overemphasized the 'send a message' aspect with that choice.

Agreed. But the message that was eventually sent was surely not what they were trying to send.