 Former Jimmy Carter speechwriter Hendrik Hertzberg said that the speech "will live on for a long time as a text for peacemakers in power".A few commentators were more critical, with former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton calling it "pedestrian, turgid, and uninspired" and US Congressman Dennis Kucinich "Once we are committed to war's instrumentality in pursuit of peace, we begin the Orwellian journey to the semantic netherworld where war is peace..."

"The New York Times" praised the eloquence of the speech, noting that "President Obama gave the speech he needed to give, but we suspect not precisely the one the Nobel committee wanted to hear.