President Barack Obama has received the Nobel Peace Prize for providing what organizers call “hope for a better future” as well as his efforts to achieve nuclear disarmament. However, the news has been greeted with everything from praise to sharp disagreement, according to ABC News.
In Oslo, Norway—where the Nobel Committee is headquartered—journalists were reportedly stunned when Obama’s name was mentioned, given that he has only been the chief executive for nine months and that he “has yet to score a major foreign policy success.”
The prize, worth $1.4 million, will be given in Oslo Dec. 10.
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian peace negotiator, applauded the news and said that he hoped Obama “will be able to achieve peace in the Middle East.”
However, Sami Abu Zuhri, an official with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, said that “Obama has a long way to go still and lots of work to do before he can deserve a reward.”
Obama is the fourth U.S. president to receive the award. He follows Jimmy Carter (2002), Woodrow Wilson (1919) and Theodore Roosevelt (1906), according to Reuters.