Choosing the winner of the Nobel peace prize is a bit safer than gambling the farm on the outcome of the 4 o’clock at Kempton Park, but not a lot. In the light of that experience, it should be less of a surprise than it is that this year’s winner is the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican). Its nearest parallel is the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which in its year of triumph, 1997, had also secured the passage of a treaty, buoyed by the backing of Princess Diana in the last campaign she championed. But it is a platform where scientists and other intellectuals engage with policymakers: Ican is a bottom-up, grassroots advocacy organisation. Safer than an individual, and maybe – in an age of political disengagement – more likely to change the terms of the debate too.

Source: The Guardian October 06, 2017 17:48 UTC