Just eight months into his presidency, President Barack Obama was shocked to wake up and discover that he’d won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Rather than awarding specific achievements, awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Obama is clearly a symbolic gesture meant to honor Obama’s political moment and his aspirations rather than achievements.

“To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize — men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace,” Obama said. “But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it’s also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.
That is why I’ve said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won’t all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it’s recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.”

One thing we do know is that the Nobel committee also recognized the President for his position on climate change. “Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting,” they stated.

Nobel committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland said of Obama’s new approach to foreign policy: “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,” he said.

Obama is scheduled to personally accept his Nobel Peace Prize at the December 10 awards ceremony in Oslo. He will donate his $1.4 million prize money to charity.