By the time Obama was nominated for the Peace Prize, he had been in office for less than two weeks. Now that he has been awarded it, he has been in office for only 9 months. He has accomplished little or nothing, certainly none of his main campaign pledges, since taking office. Hence, either the Nobel Committee has taken to awarding prizes to people who have done nothing for peace or else they are trying to influence his future policy. Yet, for a government official to accept a substantial sum of money from a foreign government which hopes to influence his policy, doesn’t that amount to bribery?