Nobel Peace Prize, In The Perspective Of International Relations

Peace is one of the objects that Humans is always pursuing. The Nobel Peace Prize, which was founded in 1901 and is now more than 100 years old, has been looking forward to the peaceful existing of the human beings. During this period, human beings experienced two bloodiest world wars. Even today, the world is not stable. In some areas, people are still facing the danger of conflicts and violence. As the culture of human race develops, peace is still something that seems so far away. However, we have not lost our hope. The history of the Nobel Peace Prize offers as an evidence that a bright future is awaiting us.This dissertation, consisting of six chapters (except for the introductive part), reviews the Nobel Peace Prize in the context of international relations. The First Chapter is about the concept of peace, the historical context of the Nobel Peace Prize and its mechanism. From Chapter Two to Chapter Five, the paper deals with the 110- year- history of the Nobel Peace Prize which is divided into four periods. The firs period is 1901-1918. In this period the Nobel Peace Prize focused on the organized international peace movements and the development of international law. The controversy is weather humanitarianism promotes peace. The answer from the Norwegian Nobel Committee is yes. The second period is 1919-1943. During the interwar years, especially in the 1920s, the Norwegian Nobel Committee is optimistic about the constructing of the international peace regime which did not weather the realistic international politics. Throughout this period between the wars the decisions of the Nobel Committee clearly reflected the international situation of the moment. And consequently some awards were not successful in retrospect. The third period is 1944-1990. Not long after World War Two, the whole world slipped into the shadow of the cold war and the Nobel Peace Prize was no exception. Ideologically, the Stalin International Peace Prize (later the Lenin International Peace Prize) and the Nobel Peace Prize formed some kind of polarized situation. There was a new departure from the original definition of peace, that is, the human rights awards. During this period, the Norwegian Nobel Committee's view on nuclear weapons evolved from a state of indifference to an increasingly clear stand in favor of nuclear disarmament. The forth period is from 1991 on. After the cold war, the definition of peace expands even more. Some social issues such as development and the environment come to the discussing agenda of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The Sixth Chapter gives a general evaluation of the Nobel Peace Prize, which includes some lines of development, the reasons of why it is highly respected and its contribution to the peace culture of human beings.This dissertation is unique concerning the theoretical analysis in the perspective of international relations. The originality is in the form five theoretical interpretations at the end of each chapter except for the last one. The titles are: liberalism—the basic idea conveyed by the Nobel Peace Prize; the humanitarianism promotes peace or war ; peace from the perspective of Norway or the world; peace as order or peace as justice; the international regime theory—a new perspective to observe the Nobel Peace Prize. And the conclusions are: the Nobel Peace Prize reflects the Western liberal tradition; the Norwegian Nobel Committee recognize that humanitarianism is one of the path toward peace; the Nobel Peace Prize is pursuing a peace as order as well as a peace as justice; the constructive international regime theory can interpret the Nobel Peace Prize with some effectiveness.