It's one of the worlds most prestigious awards, but the Nobel peace prize is also of the most contentious.
The Chinese activist Liu Ziubao is the latest winner... which has infuriated Beijing, and China's not the only critical voice:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez also entered the debate, expressing solidarity with the government...so "long Live China"
The peace prize was set up with clear goals: the award would be given to those who "have done the most for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and promotion of peace congresses"
The critics say not all past winners have met that criteria...
In 1973 Henry Kissinger won the award, for his work on the Vietnam peace accords. It later emerged he was responsible for a secret bombing campaign against the north Vietnamese army.
In 1994...Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin jointly won the award for their efforts to bring peace to the middle east, a peace that still remains elusive today.
And then last year, just 9 months into his presidency US leader Barack Obama won. Yet American drone strikes on Pakistan territory have increased under his leadership ... the US still has a military presence in Iraq and is actively engaged in war in Afghanistan.
Al Jazeera's Imran khan reports.