Tobin Harshaw, Columnist

The Nobel Peace Prize Has Always Been Political

Machado's victory was a fitting end to a week full of firsts for Gaza, gold and more.

October 12, 2025 at 12:00 PM UTC

Tobin Harshaw is a Bloomberg Opinion senior editor and columnist on national security and military affairs. Previously, he was deputy editor at the op-ed page of the New York Times and the newspaper’s letters editor.

Politics played well.
Photographer: Jesus Vargas/Getty Images South America

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Is the Nobel Peace Prize political? Hah — of course it is! “Peace” is just about as political a term as you can come up (well, yeah, after “politics,” but you know what I mean). And the Norwegian Nobel Committee has turned out some doozies over the years.