Editorial
The Nobel Peace Prize
Martti Ahtisaari has richly deserved the honour
The Nobel Prize for Peace this year has been won by a man who has for three decades made it his particular business to put out forest fires in some of the worst of global trouble spots. Martti Ahtisaari, by all calculations, should have come by the award years ago. But, as the recent example of Jimmy Carter shows, men who deserve the prize at particular points in their lives must wait until such time when corrective measures are taken. There are, again, all the tales of people who should have won the Nobel but never did.
Ahtisaari has been deeply involved with neutralising such crises as those that have left lives mutilated in Namibia, Indonesia and Kosovo. The unique aspect of Ahtisaari's efforts to make the world a safer place is that where other winners of the prize have been focused on single areas or single themes, he has straddled continents in his desire to see disturbed lives return to being normal. Namibia, which the former Finnish president cites as the highlight of his career, remains a symbol of the steadfastness and resilience with which he has worked. In the event, it took a decade for Namibia to find a way out of its bind. But when it eventually gained freedom in 1990, Ahtisaari could justifiably take pride in his contribution to the decline of colonialism. If Namibia was the beginning, Ahtisaari's efforts towards peace in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province was a mid-point crisis he was finally able to resolve when Jakarta and the Free Aceh Movement reached a satisfactory deal. His work in Northern Ireland, especially with regard to IRA arms inspections, was one more feather in his cap. But there was disappointment in Kosovo, where political intransigence came in the way of a solution to the crisis.
The Nobel Peace Prize this year has gone to one who has deserved it enormously. Martti Ahtisaari is a potent living symbol of peacemaking in an increasingly troubled world.
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