Roving Periscope: Now, Cambodia also supports Trump’s Nobel quest!
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: It appears that some nations have discovered the trick to humor US President Donald Trump and get concessions —support his long-cherished quest for a Nobel Peace Prize!
Self-nominations are not allowed, something Trump has been doing indirectly by using lawmakers in other countries.
While none of his democratic Western partners, NATO, Japan, or the other QUAD members have nominated Trump, only three countries, and a few lawmakers, besides, of course, the White House, have recommended him for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump has been indirectly pushing his own name, claiming he stopped at least six wars around the world since returning to the White House in January 20. He even claimed that he pushed India and Pakistan for a ceasefire in May this year and shielded the world from a potential nuclear conflict. While a defeated Pakistan has thanked him to curry favour, the victor India has refused to fall in this trap; an angry Trump slapped a 25 percent tariff.
Despite his political acrobatics, Trump could get only Pakistan and Israel to endorse him for the Peace Prize. Now, Cambodia, which clashed with Thailand recently over a border issue, has said it would nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol confirmed this on Friday last week. The announcement follows Trump’s reported intervention in ending recent border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand.
Trump’s call last week reportedly broke a diplomatic deadlock, leading to a ceasefire brokered in Malaysia. “He deserves to be nominated,” Sun Chanthol said, according to the media reports.
In June, Pakistan, whose Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO), on May 10, requested his Indian counterpart to halt the ongoing Operation Sindoor, credited Trump’s role in easing post-Pahalgam terror attack tensions with India.
A day after Pakistan’s announcement, however, Trump ordered airstrikes on Pakistan. Last week, Trump, who has been trying to bring peace in Ukraine, even dispatched nuclear submarines against Russia, but failed to force Moscow toe his line.
In July, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a nomination letter to President Trump during a meeting.
Earlier, in a Truth Social post, the US President rued: “I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize for this… but the people know, and that’s all that matters to me,” citing his ‘role’ in multiple international peace efforts, including the Abraham Accords and de-escalations in Africa and the Middle East.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt last week called to “give him the Nobel Peace Prize.” She said Trump brokered about one peace deal or ceasefire per month since January.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded through a confidential process. Only qualified individuals, such as lawmakers, professors, past laureates, and members of international organisations, can submit nominations by January 31.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, a five-member body appointed by Norway’s parliament, reviews all entries, consults experts, and prepares a shortlist. After thorough deliberation, the committee selects a winner by majority vote. The prize is announced in October and awarded on December 10, dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel’s death anniversary.
A nation can also effectively nominate, but only through individuals authorised to do so under Nobel rules. Heads of state, members of national governments, and national assemblies are among those eligible to submit nominations for the Peace Prize. So, if a country’s prime minister, president, or government official nominates Trump, it would be considered valid.
In 1939, a Swedish MP even nominated Adolf Hitler, and the nomination was later withdrawn. The full list of nominees remains confidential for 50 years.
Several presidents and prime ministers have also won the Nobel Peace Prize for their roles in resolving conflicts and promoting peace. US Presidents Theodore Roosevelt (1906), Woodrow Wilson (1919), and Barack Obama (2009), for example, were awarded for diplomacy and international cooperation.
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev also won it in 1990 for helping end the Cold War.
In 1994, Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat received the prize for the Oslo Accords.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was honoured in 2019 for ending the conflict with Eritrea.
