The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to U.S. President Barack Obama for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."It also cited Obama's outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.
Obama has become the third sitting U.S. president to win the coveted prize. Theodore Roosevelt won the award in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson won it in 1919. Former Democratic President Jimmy Carter won in 2002 for his mediation in international conflicts after he left office.
The Nobel committee praised Obama's creation of "a new climate in international politics" and said he had returned multilateral diplomacy and institutions like the UN to the center of the world stage.
His approach has been the opposite of his predecessor, George W. Bush, who resorted to largely unilateral military action in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States.
"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," Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Nobel Committee said.
"In the past year Obama has been a key person for important initiatives in the UN for nuclear disarmament and to set a completely new agenda for the Muslim world and East-West relations."
He added that the committee endorsed "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.'"
The Nobel committee had received a record 205 nominations for this year's prize though it was not immediately apparent who nominated Obama.
"The exciting and important thing about this prize is that it's given too someone ... who has the power to contribute to peace," Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said.
In his 1895 will, Alfred Nobel stipulated that the peace prize should go "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses."
Unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which are awarded by Swedish institutions, he said the peace prize should be given out by a five-member committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament.
Sweden and Norway were united under the same crown at the time of Nobel's death. The committee has taken a wide interpretation of Nobel's guidelines, expanding the prize beyond peace mediation to include efforts to combat poverty, disease and climate change.
In his initial reaction to the award, Obama said he is "humbled" by the honour.
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