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Saturday, October 10, 2009

Can a Nobel Peace Prize make peace harder to achieve?

Marginal Revolution: Can a Nobel Peace Prize make peace harder to achieve?: "Putting aside domestic responses, can holding a Peace Prize make it harder to bring about peace? I believe the answer is yes. The positive scenario is that holding the Prize signals strength and induces other bargainers to jump aboard your winning bandwagon, for fear of being locked out of an eventual agreement. The more negative scenario arises when the Prize holder is expected to pressure Country X, Ruritania. If the Prize holder secretly wishes to favor Ruritania in negotiations, a President without a Prize can to some extent feign or credibly signal weak bargaining power: 'I'm sorry, Ruritania just won't budge; you'll have to move closer to their position.'"

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