Nelson Mandela. Malala Yousafzai. Martin Luther King Jr. Another leader will join that prestigious group when the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize is chosen early Friday.

Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, has been drawing up short lists of potential winners for over a decade, and several of those people have won in the past. His organization seeks to promote peace and is heavily involved in the Nobel Prize process, although it has no official ties to the Nobel Institute.

The criteria for winning the Peace Prize come straight from benefactor Alfred Nobel's will. Nobel Committee members look for a person or organization that "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." The winner or winners are awarded a medal, a diploma and money.

Harpviken shares his two cents here on a few of this year's major Peace Prize contenders, not all of whom made his short list: