Nobel peace winners fear ‘new, more dangerous Cold War’
Committee highlights Israeli-Arab conflict, religious extremism among host of issues hindering stability
ROME, Italy — Nobel Peace Prize winners on Sunday expressed deep concern about “a new and more dangerous Cold War” stemming from a host of conflicts worldwide, including Israeli and Palestinian fighting.
“This threat arises from the continuing view of some great powers that they can achieve their goals through military force,” said the peace winners in a press release at the end of a summit in Rome.
They highlighted the conflict in Ukraine, which they said was “threatening the stability of Europe,” as well as other conflicts around the world.
“We decry the continued reliance on violence as a primary means of addressing differences. There are no military solutions to Syria, Congo, South Sudan, Ukraine, Iraq, Palestine/Israel, Kashmir and other conflicts,” read a concluding statement released by the committee on Sunday.
They underlined the threat of fanaticism in the guise of religion and expressed concern about an “increasingly dangerous turn” in events in the Middle East.
Participants in the summit, which started Friday, included the Dalai Lama, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi and Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee.
Justin Jalil contributed to this report