Word: beset
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Neither Jafaari nor Allawi inspires much confidence among Iraqis: both presided over governments that were corrupt and inept, and many of the problems that now beset Iraq can be traced to their missteps. But it is now clear that Maliki has been no improvement. Worse, his stubborn refusal to reach out to Sunnis is undermining the U.S. military's efforts to pacify Iraq and begin a drawdown of American troops. From Gen. Petraeus on down, commanders have repeatedly said the "surge" operation in and around Baghdad can work only if their military gains are accompanied by progress on the political...
...current con artist). Or criminal but charming, like Mary-Louise Parker's pot-dealing widow in Showtime's suburban dramedy Weeds. Or sympathetic but scary, like Courteney Cox's rapacious gossip-magazine editor in FX's Dirt. Or dedicated but damaged, like Kyra Sedgwick's detective Brenda Johnson, beset with food addictions and relationship problems, in TNT's The Closer. Or earnest but abrasive, like Chloë Sevigny's pushy, shopping-addicted but fiercely loyal and devout polygamist in HBO's Big Love...
...broader level, though, the Olympic apathy in Yunnan points to a more troubling trend of rising regionalism at the expense of central-government authority. The Chinese know their history well: Beset by warlords, the Middle Kingdom suffered a multitude of fractious eras, including a brutal multi-century stretch known as the Warring States Period...
...would face a tough fight-the Upper House members whose seats are in contention were elected in 2001, when an unusually large number of LDP candidates rode the coattails of popular Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi into office. But no one could have predicted the litany of disasters that have beset Abe over the past two months, including the suicide of one minister under a cloud of corruption (Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka), the resignation of another (Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma) for a foolish remark on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings, and worst of all, the pension crisis...
...Israel's self-image. After independence in 1948, the kibbutzniks were seen as the new breed of Israeli. They discarded Europe's deathly pallor and became bronzed, idealistic pioneers. Degania, which had been founded in 1910 by 12 Jews escaping Russian persecution, was the ideal. Its members were beset by malaria, cattle thieves and bouts of self-doubt. Yet they greened the stony hills with citrus groves. At night in the communal dining hall they argued passionately over the grand themes of the late 20th century: the individual vs. the group, women's rights, capitalism vs. socialism, religion. (It wasn...