The judges of the Norwegian Nobel Committee have made unexpected decisions in the past when awarding the annual peace prize. This year has proved no exception.
Most of the western media had assumed that the prize would go to Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban. Instead, it went to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, a body that hopes to play a pivotal role in ridding Syria of its chemical stockpile.
On many levels, this is justified. Since its foundation in 1997, the OPCW has established a solid record as a leading disarmament watchdog, assisting in the elimination of 80 per cent of chemical weapons across the globe. This includes the stockpiles of India, South Korea and almost all of Muammer Gaddafi’s Libyan cache.