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I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to President Barak Obama
on the decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award him the Nobel
Peace Prize for 2009.
President Obama has, indeed, introduced a new style and approach into
international diplomacy since he became president only ten months ago.
Under his presidency the accent has shifted from the unilateral pursuit of
national interest to leadership in multilateral efforts to address global
and regional challenges.
This new approach should be welcomed and - evidently in the view of the
Norwegian Peace Committee - encouraged.
President Obama continues to face enormous challenges in the international
arena:

in extricating the United States successfully from Iraq;
in bringing the war in Afghanistan to a successful conclusion;
in trying to unravel the deadlock between Israel and the Palestinian people;
in addressing the implacable hostility of radical Islam;
in establishing a modus vivendi with new emergent global powers;
in continuing to work with African leaders in the pursuit of democracy; good
governance and development; and
as the commander-in-chief of the world's most powerful nuclear forces, in
accepting his special responsibility to reduce and finally eliminate nuclear
weapons.
As the Norwegian Peace Committee has observed, President Obama has adopted
constructive and creative approaches to all these questions. He is,
perhaps, the first laureate to win the prize for what he will achieve in the
future - rather than for what he has already achieved. The peace prize
places a heavy responsibility on him to fulfill the great expectations that
he has so far generated - and that was possibly the Committee's intention.