Nobel's noble intentions have been watered down over time

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado leaves the White House following a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, on January 15, 2026. [AFP]

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the most prestigious global honours, awarded to individuals and organisations “who have done the most or best to advance peace”, according to Alfred Nobel’s will. Yet over its more than a century of existence, a number of laureates have sparked profound controversy over their subsequent political decisions in contexts where serious violence and human-rights abuses occurred. This leads to the question: Is the Nobel Prize perhaps, in the modern day, a tool to sanitise Western leaders and provide them with carte blanche to decimate less wanted populations?