The Nobel Peace Prize: A Better Understanding of the Will that Shapes the World

Nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize closed on January 31. Now, the Norwegian Nobel Committee faces the difficult task of deciding on a worthy winner of this – perhaps the world’s most prestigious – prize. The criteria upon which they base that decision is a few brief lines in Alfred Nobel’s 1895 final will, originally written in Swedish. Yet the English translation of the will hardly fully captures Nobel’s intentions. If we are to understand who should be awarded this sought-after prize, the English text should better reflect the spirit of the Swedish original. Accordingly, the prize seeks to benefit the work of those who pursue peace among nations as well as those who promote peace within them.