2009 Nobel Peace Prize Nobel Committee. A "Wall Street Journal" editorial, noting Obama's comment that the world's problems "can't be met by any one leader or any one nation", opined, "What this suggests to us—and to the Norwegians—is the end of what has been called 'American exceptionalism'. This is the view that U.S. values have universal application and should be promoted without apology, and defended with military force when necessary. Put in this context, we wonder if most Americans will count this peace-of-the-future prize as a compliment." "Washington Post" columnist Michael Gerson wrote that the committee members "have forfeited any claim to seriousness. Peace—the
2001 Nobel Peace Prize 2001 Nobel Peace Prize The 2001 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the United Nations and Kofi Annan for "their work for a better organized and more peaceful world". In 2001, its centennial year, the Nobel Committee decided that the Peace Prize was to be divided between the United Nations (UN) and Kofi Annan. Annan was awarded the Peace Prize for having revitalized the UN and for having given priority to human rights. The Nobel Committee also recognized his commitment to the struggle to contain the spreading of the HIV virus in Africa and his declared opposition to international terrorism.