In a decision that has stunned even the White House, President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

Many are shocked by the unexpected choice for which Obama was nominated just two weeks after his inauguration. In response to objections around the world, the Norwegian Nobel Committee countered that it was trying "to promote what he stands for and the positive processes that have started now."

The committee praised Obama for the global mood shift his calls for peace and cooperation have provoked. Without a doubt, Obama's election and foreign policy moves have caused a dramatic improvement in the image of the U.S. around the world.

The committee also commend him for his pledges to reduce the world stock of nuclear arms, ease American conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthen the U.S. role in combating climate change.

Contrary to popular opinion, the prize is not awarded to recognize efforts for peace, human rights and democracy only after they have proven successful. In fact, the prize is more often awarded to encourage those who receive it to see the effort through, sometimes at critical moments.

Still, Obama's efforts are at far earlier stages than past winners'.

"He got the prize because he has been able to change the international climate," Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said. "Some people say, and I understand it, isn't it premature? Too early? Well, I'd say then that it could be too late to respond three years from now. It is now that we have the opportunity to respond — all of us."

History of the prize

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."

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.

Obama is the third sitting U.S. president to win the award: President Theodore Roosevelt won in 1906 and President Woodrow Wilson was awarded the prize in 1919.
Wilson received the prize for his role in founding the League of Nations, the hopeful but ultimately failed precursor to the contemporary United Nations.

The Nobel committee chairman said after awarding the 2002 prize to former Democratic President Jimmy Carter, for his mediation in international conflicts, that it should be seen as a "kick in the leg" to the Bush administration's hard line in the buildup to the Iraq war.

Five years later, the committee honored Bush's adversary in the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore, for his campaign to raise awareness about global warming.

What do you think? Does Obama deserve this award or was it premature?