Professor Anne Deighton comments on the prize-winning but beleaguered EU

Anne Deighton was quoted in the New York Times (12 October) in an article entitled 'Despite Prize, European Union Loses Much of Its Appeal as Unity Eludes Continent', in the wake of the EU being awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize for having "contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe" over the last six decades.

When asked whether European integration prevented further wars, Anne said, It is a counterfactual question, so we shall never know, but she added, It gave a new direction for European politics. It allowed the Continent to build upon the postwar burst of modernization and prosperity in the Western world by enlarging markets, and freeing up trade barriers.

She also noted the irony that although the prize was awarded in Norway successive Norwegian governments themselves have been unable to persuade their own peoples to join the E.U.

The full article can be read here.