2009 Nobel Peace Prize 2009 Nobel Peace Prize The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to United States President Barack Obama for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people". The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the award on October 9, 2009, citing Obama's promotion of nuclear nonproliferation and a "new climate" in international relations fostered by Obama, especially in reaching out to the Muslim world. The Nobel Committee's decision drew mixed reactions from US commentators and editorial writers across the political spectrum, as well as from the rest of the world. Obama accepted the prize in Oslo on December 10, 2009.
2010 Nobel Peace Prize while residing in China. Liu was the third person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison or detention after Germany's Carl von Ossietzky (1935) and Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi (1991). As the laureate was absent, Liu's place on the podium was unoccupied; Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann read "I Have No Enemies", an essay that Liu had written for his trial in December 2009, in place of the acceptance speech. The Nobel Committee disclosed there were a record number of nominations in 2010 – a total of 237, of which 38 were organisations. Although the committee has