The news that President Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize seemed to take everyone by surprise — from the White House to journalists covering the Friday morning announcement in Oslo.

According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee announcement, “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 USA 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.”

ReligionLink has a number of resources that cover various elements related to the award and cited in the announcement.

• First is a 2008 webinar on “Religion and Peacebuilding” that lists dozens of scholars and organizations involved in peace issues around the world.
• Second, the Nobel Committee pointed to Obama’s outreach to the Islamic community as a key reason behind the decision to give him the award. ReligionLink has a number of editions on Islam, from source guides to specific issues such as “Islam and Politics.”
• The committee also cited Obama’s efforts to address global warming and climate change. See our extensive “Source guide on religion and the environment” for experts and resources.
• Last, but not least, is the political fallout from the award in the United States. Many of Obama’s critics are already rolling their eyes at the Nobel Committee’s decision to give the prestigious prize to a president who has been in office less than a year, and with much of his agenda still unfulfilled. Even many of Obama’s supporters were taken aback. ReligionLink has a number of editions on religion and politics, with contact information for sources, experts and organizations.
• Also note a Pew Forum study showing how popular Obama is around the world — often much more so than he is at home.

Reaction from religious groups has begun to come in.

Leaders of the National Association of Evangelicals, meeting in Landover, Md., congratulated Obama on the award, in particular because of the emphasis on nuclear disarmament cited by the Nobel Committee.Their comments are posted at Faith in Public Life.

At the Vatican, Catholic leaders — including prelates from Africa and America — reacted positively to the news of the award to Obama, according to this Catholic News Service story.

Concerned Women for America, a Christian advocacy group that aims to bring biblical principles into public policy, denounced the Nobel decision. Read the group’s response, “Dumbing Down the Nobel Peace Prize.”