President Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee says Obama is receiving the honor
because of "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international
diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
According to the committee "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." It goes on to say "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 committee says it attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.
The panel says "Obama has as president created a new climate in
international politics." One in which, it says "Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play."