The Nobel or Noble Leader?
From prizes to principles: choosing leaders who open markets, minds and corridors of collaboration
It’s been quite the wild year for following leaders on the world stage, and it has been challenging to find and follow leaders that inspire.
Nobel Prize Winners
Today, the 10th of December, is Nobel Prize day. The awards are administered by the Nobel Foundation, granted in accordance with the principle of “for the greatest benefit to humankind”.
Ceremonies, attended by royals and dignitaries, are taking place in Oslo and Stockholm. As is often the case, the winners are contested. This year, Venezuela’s opposition figure María Corina Machado is receiving the Peace Prize, although she is unlikely to attend in person. Arguments are playing out over whether this is principled support or another chapter in the Prize’s long record of politicisation.
Debate has surrounded the Peace Prize. It has been criticised as an instrument of Western soft power, accused of privileging Euro-Atlantic narratives over those in the Global South, and questioned for overlooking grassroots, anti-imperial and non-aligned actors whose work sits outside dominant geopolitical frames. Yet recognition still carries weight, especially for those who have devoted their working lives to meaningful causes.
Noble Leaders
Most people who promote and advance peace most effectively wont make it to the stage in Norway or Sweden. They represent noble qualities of humility and service. They are the ones crossing borders and removing barriers without fanfare. In 2025, they are shaping how global solutions are designed, how trade flows, how investment moves, and how people with different passports, religions and histories build something more impactful together than apart.
Some of the most compelling examples sit outside politics.
In science, we see this in SESAME - the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East - a particle-accelerator lab based in Jordan. Member countries include Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Cyprus and Türkiye. In a region marked by conflict, SESAME was built deliberately as a shared scientific facility under UNESCO so Arab, Israeli, Iranian, Muslim, Jewish and Christian scientists could work and collaborate side-by-side.
Often called “the CERN of the Middle East”, SESAME is recognised, including over the 2023–2025 period, as an example of science diplomacy and cross-religious, cross-ethnic collaboration. Its council and scientific community show that even when nations collide, it is still possible to design institutions where people cast as adversaries show up as partners, colleagues and co-inventors.
In a region of ongoing conflict, these individuals come together to drive scientific advancements that stand to benefit all of humanity. It is a form of global leadership worth celebrating in 2025.
This year, many visible leaders on the world stage have reinforced borders and tightened restrictions on trade, migration, funding and financial flows. The impact is widespread, with ongoing global socioeconomic, health, and climate implications.
It raises the question of which leaders will shape enduring outcomes over the next decade? Will they be those who, like SESAME’s founders and member states, choose to go against the status quo and build platforms, agreements and ecosystems that stay open, globally oriented and future-facing despite political pressure?
A Win-Win Worldview
On this Nobel day, we can celebrate leaders who lead nobly. They’re the ones crossing borders and breaking down barriers to secure positive-sum outcomes for all people and the planet.
With the current leadership cohort firmly in place, across politics and big business, for the next few years, it makes sense to bring these noble leaders into focus.
When in our worldview:
They inspire us.
They instruct us on how to go against the status quo.
And, they invite us to go further, together.
There’s more to the world than what most of us see. Which leaders - individuals or organisations - are crossing borders and breaking down barriers in 2025? I’d love to hear who you’re watching.
