The Nobel Peace Prize selection committee issued a clear message this year -- life, education, and if possible peace as well -- to all the children of the world, particularly to those living under difficult conditions (which, for those who have forgotten, is the situation for most children around the globe). The committee took the opportunity to grant the award to somebody courageous (Malala Yousafzai), fighting with the "good guys" against the "bad guys" (the Taliban, ISIS and assortment of other unpleasant bearded folk). It was difficult this time around -- as opposed to previous years (Arafat, the International Atomic Energy Agency headed by Mohamed ElBaradei, Obama, the European Union) -- to find any critics of 2014's worthy recipient. Malala, the 17-year-old Pakistani girl, became a symbol of hope for girls around the globe striving for an education in places where women have about as many rights as dogs (Afghanistan). Even before learning Thursday of becoming the youngest person to ever win a Nobel Peace Prize, Malala had already garnered worldwide acclaim and a stage at the United Nations. And just to make the story perfect, we had to wait for her school day to end before getting her reaction to the news. The selection committee, which has suffered considerable backlash in recent years over its decisions, brought even more ratings and drama to the December 10 prize ceremony in Oslo by also honoring Indian child rights campaigner Kailash Satyarthi. The Nobel Peace Prize, as a reminder, is not only about peace, a lot of public relations are involved -- and, if at all possible, it serves as an incentivizer to those at the start of their journey (Obama, remember-). This, for example, is why the relatively new pope, Francis, was a leading candidate to receive the prize up until Friday morning. He is a very likeable pope, but still has not done much. He is, however, promising. He is supposed to refill Europe's increasingly empty prayer masses. He is also expected to implement reforms at the Vatican and inject a modicum of humility to an institute that has lost much of its prestige (corruption, sex scandals involving minors). After Obama, however, it appears the Scandinavians decided to wait a little longer before giving the Holy See the prize. While Pope Francis discussed death recently, he still has many good years left, and we wish him all the more. Malala, too, has many years left, but why wait when the greatest menace to radical Muslims is already here -- not a rifle or fighter bomber that can kill them (this is far from a deterrence for them), but "a girl with a book." This is truly the worst nightmare for any unenlightened extremist. And the bonus of this selection is the peace -- even if for only a few hours on Friday -- it brought to Kashmir, which is still stuck at the center of a land dispute between two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan. Can anybody recall the last time a Nobel Peace Prize also actually contributed to real peace, even if short lived-
