When I was told this morning that I would “not believe” who won the Nobel Peace Prize, I wondered who it could be that would shock me more than Al Gore or Barack Obama.
As it turns out, the Nobel committee has given its coveted prize in peace to none other than the European Union. Because debilitating financial turmoil is so conducive to peace.
The stated reason for the award is that the union has helped to bridge divides and promote friendly relations among countries that once fought each other in some of the bloodiest wars in history. However, recent financial troubles have threatened the solvency and cohesion of the EU, as member nations have struggled with debt, inflation, and a plethora of accompanying economic and political problems.
Further, we should not overlook the fact that the EU is ultimately nothing more than a big alliance, made more permanent, formidable, and more of a threat to individual national sovereignty than ever before by the presence of a unified currency and transnational governing bodies. And, after all, alliances were one reason all those historic wars were so bloody in the first place.
But we should look on the bright side– if the encouragement of prolonged economic collapse is now a qualifying characteristic for winning the peace prize, perhaps our own President Obama will be eligible for a repeat award in the years to come….
