Stunningly early in his young administration, President Barack H. Obama, J.D. '91, was today awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize announcement cited the president "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," with particular emphasis on his efforts to reduce risks from nuclear weapons. The Nobel news release is here; it read, in part:
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 U.S.A. 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.
