The Nobel Peace Prize has been conferred on international organisations which simply do their job and even the promoters of impractical disarmament initiatives, while the real issues that involve the very survival of mankind cry out for out-of-the-box solutions.
Three festering situations which guarantee this Nobel for anyone who can break the impasse are Korea, Palestine and Kashmir. There is no dearth of proposals to resolve them but they elude acceptance as the parties concerned have adopted ironclad positions. The traditional approach is to let things be.
Till very recently, North Korea was a clear case of a total freeze being preferable to any meddling that might cause an escalation. With a mix of authoritarianism, holding out nuclear threats and irrational behaviour, three generations of Kims held the world to ransom while successive U.S. Presidents followed a carrot and stick approach to keep things within manageable limits.
Slow progress
Then came a U.S. President with a clearly disruptionist policy and no fear of consequences. War, he said, was an option if leaders starved their people, violated their human rights and threatened the world itself with a nuclear war. After much sabre rattling and the use of undiplomatic language, both leaders (of the U.S. and North Korea) came to the conclusion that peace should be the preferred option and took hesitant steps that were unthinkable even a few months ago. A summit was an on-again, off-again concept till Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un reached Sentosa island in Singapore.
The outcome, on June 12, which made the world heave a sigh of relief, was characterised as a comprehensive document. In fact, there is nothing in the document which was not agreed in 1994 and 2005. Though it is a four-point document, in actual fact it is nothing more than a declaration of intent. Crucial issues such as denuclearisation and a guarantee of security remain undefined. There is no timeframe either for any of the proposals. There could be many a slip between the cup and the lip. Still, a grateful world has hailed it as real progress and called for the Nobel for Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim.
If one considers where the two leaders started from and where they have reached, there could be some justification to reward them for switching gears from war to peace. But they are unworthy of the honour if one is to go by their past records.
The number of bilateral and multilateral agreements that Mr. Trump has sacrificed and his irrational agendas cannot be forgotten just because of what he has decided on North Korea. Mr. Kim, on the other hand, was till the other day the butcher of North Korea where his family oppressed their people, starved them and used the nation’s resources to splurge on weapons of mass destruction. He has blood on his hands.
Candidate Moon
Instead, the person who should get the Nobel was not on Sentosa. South Korean President Moon Jae-in — who is the real peace maker — was in Seoul, thinking about the two leaders whose decisions will be critical for his country and the wider region.
What Mr. Moon worked on for long and finally accomplished is nothing short of a miracle given the stances adopted by Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim before he set out on his journey to explore peace. With determination, charm and incorrigible optimism, he stuck his neck out, ready to pay a price if his efforts failed. He knew that his country would be the first to face the fire and fury that Mr. Trump had talked about. He even allowed, without hesitation, a South Korean official to announce the news of a possible thaw from the lawns of the White House.
Mr. Moon has an impeccable record of integrity, poise and sincerity. In late April, the world watched in awe as he warmly welcomed Mr. Kim in the demilitarised zone at the start of a historic summit. He even unhesitatingly stepped on to North Korean soil when asked to by Mr. Kim and the agreement they reached in the path of peace was unequivocal. The transparency and dignity of Mr. Moon is a model worth emulating.
Another reason why it should be Mr. Moon who should get the Nobel is because it is he who brought the warring sides together. The Sentosa document is a concept while the summit is a reality. Moreover, Mr. Moon has a crucial role as both peacemaker and stakeholder. He should be enabled to come to terms with Mr. Trump’s impulsive decision to suspend joint military exercises with South Korea, as a concession announced after the Sentosa meet. Even if peace eludes the Korean Peninsula for some time, Mr. Moon’s skilful diplomacy should not go unrewarded.
T.P. Sreenivasan, a former diplomat, is Chairman, Academic Council and Director, NSS Academy of Civil Services, and also Director General, Kerala International Centre, Thiruvananthapuram
