Barack Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

By WALTER GIBBS and ALAN COWELL

Published: October 9, 2009

OSLO — In a stunning surprise, the Nobel Committee announced Friday that it had awarded its annual peace prize to President Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” less than nine months after he took office.

“He has created a new international climate,” the committee said in its announcement. With American forces deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Obama’s name had not figured in speculation about the winner until minutes before the prize was announced here.

Likely candidates had been seen here as including human rights activists in China and Afghanistan and political figures in Africa.

But the committee said it wanted to enhance Mr. Obama’s diplomatic efforts so far rather than reward him for events in the future.

Thorbjorn Jagland, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and a former prime minister of Norway, told reporters that Mr. Obama had already contributed enough to world diplomacy and understanding to deserve the prize.

Asked whether the prize was given too early in Mr. Obama’s presidency, he said: “We are not awarding the prize for what may happen in the future but for what he has done in the previous year. We would hope this will enhance what he is trying to do.”

The prize was announced as the Obama administration wrestles with global crises from the Middle East to Iran to southwest Asia while American military forces are still deployed in large numbers in Iraq and the White House is considering whether to increase troop levels in Afghanistan.

Mr. Obama has appealed for reductions in nuclear arsenals and is seeking to restart peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.

But he also confronts challenges from Iran amid fears that Tehran is seeking a nuclear weapon — charges Iran denies.

Mr. Jagland said the conflict in Afghanistan “concerns us all. We do hope an improvement in the international climate could help resolve that.” Mr. Jagland had been asked by a reporter whether Mr. Obama’s selection for the award was intended to influence the American debate on troops levels in Afghanistan.

Looking back on the Obama presidency so far, Mr. Jagland said: “One of the first things he did was to go to Cairo to try to reach out to the Muslim world, then to restart the Mideast negotiations and then he reached out to the rest of the world through international institutions. “

He mentioned in particular the recent United Nations Security Council meeting on nuclear disarmament and the announcement of the prize noted the special importance the Nobel committee attached to President Obama’s vision of a world without nuclear weapons.

“Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play,” the committee said.

President Obama was the third leading American Democrat to win the prize in 10 years, following former Vice President Al Gore in 2007 along with the United Nations climate panel and former President Jimmy Carter in 2002.

The last sitting American president to win the prize was Woodrow Wilson in 1919. Theodore Roosevelt was selected in 1906 while in the White House and Mr. Carter more than 20 years after he left office.

The prize was won last year by the former president of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari for peace efforts in Africa and the Balkans.

The prize is worth the equivalent of $1.4 million and is to be awarded in Oslo on Dec. 10.

The full citation read: “The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.”

“Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the United States is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.”

“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population,” the citation said.

“For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world’s leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama’s appeal that ‘now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.’”

There was no immediate reaction from the White House about the announcement, which drew a mixed reception in some parts of the world.

The chief Palestinian peace negotiator, Saeb Erekat, welcomed the award to Obama, Reuters reported.

In Gaza, however, a leader of the militant Islamic Jihad, Khaled Al-Batsh, condemned it, saying the award “shows these prizes are political, not governed by the principles of credibility, values and morals,” Reuters said.

“Why should Obama be given a peace prize while his country owns the largest nuclear arsenal on earth and his soldiers continue to shed innocent blood in Iraq and Afghanistan?”

Walter Gibbs reported from Oslo, and Alan Cowell from London. Richard Berry contributed from Paris.

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I like Barack Obama, but I honestly can't believe that this has been given for anything besides attaining a position of power whilst black.

Western hypocricy at its best!

What a joke. This is so ridiculous that I don't even know what to say.

I honestly think it is hilarious that Barack is uber popular in ultra, anti-American Greece. Just because he is black and they think he is leftist.

But then he visited Turkey in a high profile visit and the Greek media covered it in a constantly jealous media blitz with coverage that could almost rival the huge Athens 2009 fires or any large domestic news like the 2008 earthquakes, but not as much as they would cover an Israeli military campaign(to take the side of Pallywood productions).

What the hell has he done to deserve this award?
I couldnt believe Papandreou and Cem didnt get it all those years ago for the re approachment between Turkey and Greece......This is becoming a joke award

Yes black friend said what the fuck?

but it is time to shake things up so fuck all the critics!!

And this while the Afghanistan war is still going on.

I hope after that nobody takes Nobel Peace Prize seriously any more.

Mate it doesn't surprise me nor should it you.

Europeans are obsess with American politics and the anti-Bush anti-American feelings run really high.


If you lived in Europe for a long time you would know this.


Despite all this my beautiful people are still undiscriminatory towards Americans.

Cause they are humans.

This is unbelievable. Obama hasn't even been in office 10 months. The Nobel Peace Prize has become meaningless. Obama must feel embarassed. He's done nothing.

i guess it is way too early.

i feel for obama because he has to meet so many expectations with such little dealt hand.

i mean people want miracles when he can do only so much.

but before everyone lines up to kiss his arse he has to solve:

1. The economic crisis(the biggest one since 1929)

2. The Iraq and Afhanistan conflict.

3. The ongoing dispute between Israel and Palestine and other Arab nations.

On top of this he has to calm down the redencks re health care reforms.

I concur with everyone else that it was way too young for him to win an award that is suppose to be so prestigious.

Nobel has always been a joke to me anyways.



Right after Pamuk won it.

Man, I'm glad to see we finally have something in this forum that everyone can agree on, from the rightists and leftists on both sides of the Aegean, and me too.

What has Obama done?

1. Continued to ignore what Iraqis want and ruin their country.
2. Continued to ignore what Afghanis want and ruin their country.
3. Threaten Pakistan.
4. Fail to fix our state-funded medicine, which is so bad that Mexico's is better.
5. Reminded American Jews how they are different to Israelis (I like this part) but failed to actually do anything for the Palestinians.
6. Reminded me how Americans will label anyone who thinks the government should do anything for its citizens with all its tax dollars (rather than use it to kill Arabs) is a communist (even though Obama hasn't halted the Arab-slaughter).
7. Been the first Black president
BUT
8. Done fuckall for Black folks.

SOOOOOOO...........

Yeah.

Oh and Blistanbul, agreed on the Pamuk front. Orhan lives his life in İstanbul, shit-talks Kars, runs off to New York to party with celebrities, and gets declared a brave man who stands up to tyranny? Go fuck yourself Nobel peace prize.

Very true.

But lets cut him slack, he has only been in the office for 9 months.

As I said, I give him credit for reminding American Jews that their interests and Israel's interests should not be one and the same. (More than any president I can think of since America put so much energy into helping get the state going as a way to stop Jewish immigration to America)

Now maybe he can show up in East Jerusalem and belt this out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_National_Anthem

And then I'll say he set some REAL precedents, amirite?

Pamuk got the Nobel prize in literature, not the Nobel peace prize.

He also didn't run off to New York to "party with celebrities". He received death threats on his life, and left the country to teach in Columbia. He still spends one semester in New York and parts of the year in Turkey. This was the case last time I checked, at least.

This has nothing to do with him being "brave" or being a pussy. He just got persecuted for fairly obvious comments the rest of us couldn't handle.