“This is not how I expected to wake up this morning,” the president said, after hearing that the Norwegian Nobel Committee had awarded him with the prestigious Nobel Prize for Peace. “I am both surprised and deeply humbled,” he said, and “do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.”

“To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize — men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace,” he said.

There have been detractors in the United States and overseas for the Nobel Committee’s decision. After only nine months in office, the president’s vision of eliminating nuclear weapons and his renewed emphasis on global cooperation and dialogue to resolve challenges such as climate change and pandemic disease have not yet accomplished their goals. Obama himself said today that some of his policy goals may not be completed during his administration, and the elimination of nuclear weapons “may not be completed in my lifetime.”

But when Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman Thorbjorn Jagland announced the decision in Oslo, he compared President Obama to other peace prize winners such as former West Berlin mayor Willy Brandt and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, whose own reform efforts had not been achieved when they received the prize.

“The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world,” Jagland said. “And who has done more than Barack Obama?”

The president said the prize has been used to “give momentum” to causes, and he said he sees the award, which will be given in Oslo December 10, as “a call to action” for the United States and all nations to “confront the common challenges of the 21st century.”

What do you think about this surprise announcement? Do you think this will help or inadvertently hurt President Obama as he tries to advance his policy goals?

You may have noticed that President Obama is not a fan of nuclear weapons. At a speech in Prague this past April he called for their abolition. He has been working with Russia to reduce the number of U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons and launchers. And he has also been trying to prevent Iran and North Korea from developing nuclear weapons of their own.

Today marked another indication that nuclear nonproliferation is a huge priority of the Obama administration when the president called a summit meeting of the United Nations Security Council and became the first U.S. head of state to ever chair the body. It was also only the fifth time the Security Council has met at the head of state level since its formation in 1946. The first was held in 1992 to discuss the dissolution of the former Soviet Union.

Can you guess what the topic was today?

What President Obama and the other heads of state achieved from this summit was the first U.N. Security Council resolution calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons and which sets out a broad framework on how to reduce nuclear dangers in pursuit of that goal.

The spread and use of nuclear weapons is a “fundamental threat to the security of all peoples and all nations,” Obama said. If one nuclear weapon exploded in a major world city, it would kill thousands, and “it would badly destabilize our security, our economies, and our very way of life.”

The president said every country has the right to peaceful nuclear energy, but those which already have nuclear weapons “have the responsibility to move toward disarmament,” and those who don’t “have the responsibility to forsake them.”

What do you think? Is a world without nuclear weapons achievable? How can this goal become a reality?

Having approved a unanimous recommendation from his Joint Chiefs of Staff, President Obama announced today a new plan to reduce the threat from Iran’s ballistic missile program. The new plan eliminates a proposal to deploy radar and missile interceptors in the Czech Republic and Poland.

“Our new missile defense architecture in Europe will provide stronger, smarter and swifter defenses of American forces and America’s allies,” Obama said. “It is more comprehensive than the previous program. It deploys capabilities that are proven and cost effective.”

For more details on the new plan, read my colleague Stephen Kaufman’s article on America.gov.

Eight years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama marked the day at the Pentagon memorial. “Eight Septembers have come and gone,” Obama said before a group that included family members of Pentagon victims. “But no turning of the seasons can diminish the pain and the loss of that day.”

“Let us remember how we came together as one nation, as one people, as Americans, united not only in our grief but in our resolve to stand with one another, to stand up for the country we all love,” Obama said.

The anniversary is a time to honor those who gave their lives on September 11 and in the wars that have followed, Obama said. “You may find solace in the memory of those you loved, and know that you have the unending support of the American people,” he said.

Obama called on Americans to “renew our resolve against those who perpetrated this barbaric act and who plot against us still.”

The president has declared September 11 a day of service and remembrance, encouraging Americans to give back to their communities on this day.

The full text of the president’s remarks is available on the White House Web site.

The Obama administration has created a new “high-level” unit that will oversee the interrogation of key detainees who may have useful information about violent extremist groups, the White House announced August 24.

During his inaugural address Obama said his administration “reject[s] as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.” These high-level interrogators will have to comply with regulations outlined in the Army Field Manual, which bans certain methods.

For more, see “Obama Creates New Unit to Handle High-Level Interrogations.”

August 7 marks the eleventh anniversary of the bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Hundreds were killed and thousands injured in the bombings linked to al Qaeda.

In a White House statement, President Obama said, “These attacks in East Africa are sad examples of al Qaeda’s determination to kill innocent men, women and children in many countries, regardless of their religion, race, or nationality. The memory of the attacks in Kenya and Tanzania remind us that we must always be vigilant in working with our allies to bring these terrorists to justice; to prevent these types of attacks from happening again; and to advance peace and security for Americans, Kenyans, Tanzanians, and people around the world.”

Secretary Clinton, currently traveling through Africa, spoke at a memorial for these victims. For more, see “Clinton Pays Tribute at Embassy Bombing Memorial.”