The Norwegian Nobel Committee's decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2008 to Finland's former president, Martti Ahtisaari, shows that the committee has restored the tradition of honoring people who have played important roles in helping to solve conflicts between nations and between ethnic groups.
Last year the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore received the peace prize for disseminating knowledge about man-made climate change. The committee's choice of Mr. Ahtisaari this year delivers a strong warning against using military force to solve conflicts, as was done in the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Georgia and other places.
The committee said in its statement: "Today Ahtisaari is an outstanding international mediator. Through his untiring efforts and good results, he has shown what role mediation of various kinds can play in the resolution of international conflicts." It also expressed "the hope that others may be inspired by his efforts and his achievements." The committee mentioned his work in conflicts from Namibia, Aceh, Kosovo and Iraq to Northern Ireland, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa. The Aceh conflict lasted about 30 years and killed about 15,000 people. His mediation efforts brought about a peace agreement between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement, a separatist guerrilla group, in 2005. The next year, a former separatist was elected Aceh governor.