Will A Pakistani Teenager Win The Nobel Peace Prize?
It hasn't been a great year for peace. War is raging in Syria, grinding conflicts drag on in Afghanistan and Iraq, and assorted insurgencies plague nations from Asia to Africa.
Yet the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday, and one of the favorites would be a striking choice: Malala Yousafzai, the 16-year-old schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban last year for her outspoken advocacy of girls' education in her native Pakistan.
The Nobel prizes in the sciences often recognize a body of work that was decades in the making. In contrast, the Norwegian Nobel Committee that selects the Peace Prize winner seems less taken by lifetime achievement and often chooses an aspirational figure, someone who could potentially bring political or social change, even if it hasn't happened yet.
This approach, along with the vagaries of global politics, can lead to choices that don't always look so inspired in hindsight. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, much better known for fighting than peacemaking, won the prize in 1994. Mahatma Gandhi never won, despite being nominated several times.
British bookies, the media and others who handicap the peace prize have focused on Malala. A year ago, she was a student in a remote and dangerous corner of Pakistan. The Taliban shooting on Oct. 9, 2012, which targeted her on a school bus, inflicted a serious head wound that nearly claimed her life and required multiple surgeries. She was treated in Britain and recovered sufficiently to begin attending high school there in March.
Her inspiring story and continued willingness to speak out against the Taliban has already made her a global icon. She's currently conducting a series of high-profile interviews in the U.S. She has just published her autobiography, I Am Malala, and the European Union on Thursday selected her for its annual human rights award.
Malala recently told a Pakistani radio station that others would be more deserving of the Nobel.
"There are many people who deserve the Nobel Peace Prize and I think that I still need to work a lot," she told City89 FM. "In my opinion, I have not done that much to win the Nobel Peace Prize."
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