Nobel Peace Prize is up for grabs
It’s impossible to name the favorites for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.
Why? Because the list of 331 nominees – 216 individuals and 115 organizations – isn’t made public, leaving the world to a guessing game and, for the especially ambitious among us, to wager on a list of potential winners that includes President Donald Trump, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Pope Francis and the American Civil Liberties Union.
The winner of the award, given annually since 1901 to the person or group that has done the most to advance world peace, will be announced Friday at 5 a.m. EDT in Oslo, Norway. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was the 2017 winner.
The list of previous winners includes four former U.S. Presidents: Barack Obama (2009), Jimmy Carter (2002), Woodrow Wilson (1919) and Theodore Roosevelt (1906), as well as other dignitaries including Martin Luther King Jr. (1964), Henry Kissinger (1973) and Mother Teresa (1979).
Who will win this year? According to oddschecker.com, which aggregates odds from online betting sites, Kim and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, have the top odds at 5-6, followed by Trump (6-1) and the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta (16-1).
The winner is selected by a fivemember panel named by Norway’s parliament, the Storting.
Here are a few of the most notable names on the list: ❚ Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in: The North Korean leader and South Korean president signed a peace agreement last month that could lead to denuclearization. ❚ Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters: Joshua Wong and Umbrella Movement protesters could be recog-
nized for their nonviolent activism for political freedom. ❚ Pope Francis: Although Pope Francis has received criticism for his handling of sex abuse scandals, Time’s 2013 Person of the Year is a popular bet. ❚ ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union led a lawsuit that halted the Trump’s administration’s policy of separating children and parents at the Mexican border.
❚ Angela Merkel: Germany’s fourterm chancellor has been described as Europe’s de facto leader. She reached a grand coalition deal in February.
❚ George Soros: The liberal financier and philanthropist chairs the Open Society Foundations and is a super PAC donor. ❚ Donald Trump: Republican lawmakers nominated the president in May for working to “end the Korean War, denuclearize the Korean peninsula and bring peace to the region.”