10-12-2012, 10:24 PM
A minority view here, but if you read The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman, and then look at Europe as it exists today, there is a point to the award. The EU has allowed for peaceful travel across borders, commerce, and a collection of countries that have no need to argue their differences at the point of a bayonet. The current Euro crisis shows how collective security can deal with a very difficult situation without blood curdling threats. I think they have a long way to go, but perhaps the prize is meant to be cautionary, in the sense of "don't blow this chance."