The competition included Bill Gates, Angela Merkel and Kofi Annan, among others, but this week a little-known organization called the China International Peace Research Center named Russia’s bombastic Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as winner of the group’s second Confucian peace prize. Yes, Vladimir Putin.

— KA

The Guardian:

After two wars in Chechnya, one conflict in South Ossetia and two of the deadliest hostage relief operations in modern history, the former KGB officer was named on Monday as the winner of the second Confucian peace prize.

[…] The 16-judge panel said that Putin deserved the award because his criticism of Nato’s military engagement in Libya was “outstanding in keeping world peace”, regardless of the fact that it had no bearing on the outcome of the north African conflict.

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