By Lubna Abdel-Aziz There are the warmakers, and there are the peacemakers. Some beat their war drums night and day, while others try to stifle their throbbing thunder. It is not a simple task. Lest you think peace is easy, think again! Georges Clemenceau was right when he said "it is easier to make war than to make peace." The pursuit of peace is as old as the pursuit of war, but far more complicated. There are those who pursue the process of peace at any price. No glory awaits them, no accolades for conquering heroes. It is only in the 20th century that wars became so corrosive, so cataclysmic, that peace efforts became imperative in order to save mankind. Alfred Nobel (1833 -- 1896), the Swedish scientist who invented dynamite, became one of the richest men in the world, but he never rid himself of the guilt he felt because of his invention. He had intended it for peace, but it resulted in ravage and ruin. Nobel set up a fund of approximately $9 million at the Swedish Central bank in 1890, and the interest accrued which was valued then at $202 thousand for each recipient was to be used to award annual prizes in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, economics and literature. At present the value of each prize is $1,8 million. The most outstanding prize would be reserved for the peacemakers -- those who have done the most effective work in promoting international peace -- this most elusive, mercurial, idyllic quality so callously squandered by man. The peace prize was to be awarded on December 10th in Oslo, Norway, the others in Stockholm, Sweden. Since 1901, Oslo has welcomed 96 men and women and 20 organizations which the Nobel Committee considered the world's leading peacemakers of that year. Most of them are unknown to the general public. Peacemakers seldom make headlines, yet as Martin Luther King Jr. so eloquently stated in his acceptance speech in Oslo, in 1964: "When years have rolled past...men and women will know...these humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness' sake....for the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace, is more precious than diamonds, silver or gold!!" Among the peacemakers are some famous recipients, Anwar Sadat (1978), Mother Theresa (1979), Henry Kissinger (1973), Nelson Mandela (1993), and three American presidents Jimmy Carter (2002), Woodrow Wilson (1919), and Theodore Roosevelt (1906). A strange and controversial omission from the list is the name of the most renowned pacifist in the 20th century Mahatma Ghandi. The peace prize has been awarded to many who have done far less and achieved even less in their quest for peace. Questions are often asked of the Norwegian Committee's reasons for this omission that have never been answered satisfactorily. The Committee expressed its regret publically, when the fourteenth Dalai Lama was awarded his peace prize in 1984. While offering the prize, the Chairman of the Committee said that this was "in part, a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi." Too little, too late - the Committee can, and should do more. Gandhi's name was submitted five times, in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947, and again in 1948, only a few days before his assassination in January 1948, which made him a lasting symbol for peace in the history of mankind. Speculations abound as to the reasons for this glaring omission. One, is that Norway was wary of damaging relations with Great Britain, the policies of which Gandhi opposed. The irony is that 21 years after his death, the UK issued a double-sized postage stamp in his honour. This year the Committee chose one who is better known in peace circles than he is to the general public. He has lived most of his life attempting to promote peace, whenever and wherever possible. A former president of the Republic of Finland (1994 -- 2000), Martti Ahtisaari is the recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize. A gentle man, soft spoken and reflective, with a wry sense of humour, "yet the scale and scope of his activities, are almost beyond belief." A militant advocate for peace, Mr. Ahtisaari was born in 1937, and graduated from the University of Oulu, Finland in 1959/ He served as a civil servant in the Finnish Foreign Ministry, and became Finland's Ambassador to Tanzania (1973 -- 1976), a UN commissioner for Namibia (1977 -- 1981), a position which led to the UN operation in Namibia in 1989 -- 1990, Chairman of the Bosnia/Herzegovina Working Group of the International Conference of the former Yugoslavia. Mr. Ahtisaari's tender touch and clear logic left a deep impression on his listeners. He knows how to deal with people; he knows that "nothing baffles man as man himself." He is instinctively a psychologist who narrows the gap between minds and hearts. Indefatigable in his pursuit of peace, he has travelled the globe happily hopping from one plane to another, wherever there is a crisis to manage -- that is his forte. On leaving the office of president, Mr. Ahtisaari founded his "Crisis Management Initiative," which has sent him from Turkey to Northern Ireland, from Iraq to the Horn of Africa. Indonesia owes him the Memorandum of Understanding that ended their three-decade conflict with the Aceh movement. Mr Ahtisaari was the UN Special Envoy overlooking the status of Kosovo. Between his service on the European Council on Foreign Relations, and serving as Chairman of the Board of his Crisis Management Initiative, you would think he has little time for much else. Being an opera buff, he also finds time to serve as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Finnish National Opera. Having witnessed himself the debris following the Jenin massacre of Palestine at the hands of Israel, Mr Ahtisaari knows in his heart, and states that repeatedly, that this world will never know true peace until the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is resolved. In his acceptance speech, Ahtisaari stressed the fact "that we cannot go on year after year simply pretending to do something....we must get results. All conflicts can be settled and there are no excuses for allowing them to become eternal." A dreamer as well as a realist, that is one crisis our Nobel Laureate would love to manage personally. Some dreams do come true! Non-violence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869 -- 1948)
