This year’s candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize included Pope Francis, Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel (presumably for her work in flooding the country with refugees and terrorists), Edward Snowden, and believe it or not John Kerry who was nominated in partnership with Iran’s Mohammad Javad Zarif! Evidently someone thought Kerry and Zarif’s work on the horrendously crappy Iran deal was worth a Nobel Prize nomination. However, those who bet on the favorites listed above were doomed to disappointment.

This morning, the Nobel Committee announced their choice for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize, and it was awarded to a group few have heard of:

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2015 is to be awarded to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011. The Quartet was formed in the summer of 2013 when the democratization process was in danger of collapsing as a result of political assassinations and widespread social unrest. It established an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war. It was thus instrumental in enabling Tunisia, in the space of a few years, to establish a constitutional system of government guaranteeing fundamental rights for the entire population, irrespective of gender, political conviction or religious belief.

Who? This is a choice that has literally confounded everyone. Seriously, every newsroom around the world is now frantically Googling for information concerning this quartet. Who are they and what is it that they have done that led them to this prestigious award?

The National Dialogue Quartet in #Tunisia won the #NobelPeacePrize pic.twitter.com/tjYy0EQb5g

— Wajd Bouabdallah (@tounsiahourra) October 9, 2015

The Tunisian Quartet is a group consisting of a trade confederation, a group of lawyers, labor organization, and a human rights organization. The key leaders of the Quartet are pictured below. From left to right is: Wided Bouchamaoui, President of the Tunisian Employers’ Union, Houcine Abbassi, Secretary General of the Tunisian General Labour Union, Abdessattar Ben Moussa, President of the Tunisian Human Rights, and Mohamed Fadhel Mahmoud, President of the National Bar Association of Tunisa.

According to the Nobel Prize Committee, this award was specifically given to show the Tunisian people the value of dialogue in a region that is continually dealing with violence and conflict.

 Houcine Abassi, the head of a labour union within the quartet, said he was “overwhelmed” and described the prize as a “tribute to martyrs of a democratic Tunisia”, a reference to the more than 300 people who were killed during the four-week long uprising that unseated longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011.

Interestingly it seems the Nobel Committee has issued this prize in an effort to bolster both the people of Tunisia and the Arab Spring as a whole, the same Arab Spring that began in Tunisia in late 2010.

As the Nobel Committee noted Friday in its statement, “The Arab Spring originated in Tunisia in 2010-2011, but quickly spread to a number of countries in North Africa and the Middle East. In many of these countries, the struggle for democracy and fundamental rights has come to a standstill or suffered setbacks.”

The #NobelPeacePrize to the National Dialogue Quartet in #Tunisia shows the way out of the crises in the region: national unity & democracy

— Federica Mogherini (@FedericaMog) October 9, 2015

As Richard Spencer of The Telegraph points out, this year’s Peace Prize seems to be about bolstering hope rather than results.  Given the statement by the Nobel Committee, in which they urge for democracy in Tunisia to be safeguarded and the efforts of the National Quartet lead to further peace and democracy across the Middle East.

The #NobelPeacePrize makes me think of Vaclav Havel's quote about hope: http://t.co/SSdbIY1XDx

— eileen spiegler (@espiegler) October 9, 2015

Today’s award is a great honor, and for the Tunisian Quartet, the news shines a very bright light on their efforts to bring peace to their country. However, that peace is fragile and was nearly shattered earlier this summer when Islamic terrorists attacked and killed 38 tourists at Tunisia’s Sousse beach resort.

We extend our congratulations to the Tunisian National Quartet and hope this Nobel Peace Prize will aid in the Quartet’s goal to make peace a reality rather than a wish for their country.