On Oct. 6, 2017, the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) group.
The ICAN group is a Geneva-based coalition of disarmament activists. According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, ICAN has given the cause of nuclear disarmament “a new direction and new vigor.” As a group, ICAN promotes the U.N.’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a prohibition on nuclear weapons that is supported by over 100 countries. The group calls for more involvement from the world’s nuclear powers.
Specifically, Fihn, the head of this anti-nuclear campaign group, has called Trump a “moron” for putting a spotlight on nuclear warfare and claimed that Trump has a record of “not listening to expertise.” With the mounting danger of the conflict between the U.S. and North Korea, the risk of nuclear weapons is greater than ever before.
“The election of President Donald Trump has made a lot of people feel very uncomfortable with the fact that he alone can authorize the use of nuclear weapons,” Fihn stated, adding that “there are no right hands for nuclear weapons”.
This is not the first time for the Nobel Peace Prize to focus on nuclear disarmament. The 1982 prize was awarded for two diplomats who have campaigned hard for this cause. The 2017 award, however, carries a special message. It serves as a vindication for the need of action in a time when the threat of nuclear warfare is increasing. The Nobel organization states that it will continue to honor those who work to ensure peace in the atomic age for “as long as the risks of nuclear proliferation and nuclear war continue to exist.”
