Word: backdrop
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Last week, I joined some friends at a social event for young progressives. Our purpose for attending the event was more to provide a backdrop for a reunion—we had all attended the same summer program two years ago—than out of a particular desire to connect with others...
...summit comes against a backdrop of deepening Arab frustration and despair over the failure to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, worsened by the spectacle of Palestinians killing each other. "Gaza has become an embarrassing and frightening scene evoking sorrow and grief in the hearts," Saudi commentator Abdulrahman al-Rashid wrote in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat last week. Lately, Arab officials have grown anxious that their own increased diplomatic efforts are going unrewarded as they watch the growing influence of Iran, which backs radical Arab factions, including Hamas. While Hamas' power play humiliated the Saudis...
That proved unnecessary, but the grim Wall nonetheless provided a dramatic backdrop for Reagan's attempt to reassert leadership of the Western alliance. Before an audience estimated at 20,000, the President rose to the occasion. Referring to the city's division and deliberately inviting comparison with John F. Kennedy's famed "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in 1963, Reagan expressed "this unalterable belief: es gibt nur ein Berlin" (there is only one Berlin). Taking note of the violent demonstrations against U.S. foreign policy that swirled through West Berlin before his arrival, Reagan asserted, "I invite those who protest today...
...young nation's earlier experience of independence, which lasted only from 1921 to 1940. Today, the locals flock here to listen to jazz, snack on sushi and parade around in the latest Zara jeans. Down the street, billboards advertising Swedish banks (and McDonald's) mingle with a backdrop of copper-green medieval spires. Visitors wanting to understand the city's deep commitment to free trade could explore its many history museums. Or they could take a look at something more current: the carefree faces around them on this early summer night...
...which featured live music, cheap food and drink, and was a fun place to party. Those events are valuable, but they shouldn’t be the pub’s raison d’être. The Queen’s Head has simply become the backdrop for such nights, albeit more frequently than in 2005. It remains mostly empty the rest of the time because of this party-night image. It’s true that there may be an additional costs associated with longer hours, but the additional revenues would cover some of those costs...