Word: brinkmanship
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...Despite U.S. hopes that the election would confirm a trend toward stability in Iraq, it appears to have produced a political deadlock that may not easily be broken by the constitutional mechanisms. Months of maneuvering and brinkmanship lie ahead, with a growing threat of violence in the political vacuum. The election results appear to confirm that no single power center, local or foreign, is capable of stabilizing Iraq on its own terms. The country's prospects in the anxious months ahead may depend as much on the wisdom and statesmanship of its own politicians as on the extent of conflict...
...even if Merkel says Greece is in no immediate danger, there are doubts about whether it can survive for much longer without outside financial help. Simon Tilford, chief economist at the London-based Center for European Reform think tank, says Merkel's brinkmanship is understandable given the political risks of Germany's conceding too soon but that she cannot hold out indefinitely. "It is implausible that Greece could get through the rest of this year unaided," he says. "Ultimately, the Germans will put something on the table. They will always defend the stability of the euro...
...Given the petty nature of the dispute, it's tempting to see the breakdown as a result of a regional game of brinkmanship. Syria has been slowly working its way back into the good graces of the international community after having faced widespread condemnation over accusations that it planned the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, father of the Prime Minister-designate. As the Obama Administration has reached out, Syria has made progress on some of the outstanding points of contention between the two countries. It has for the first time officially recognized Lebanese sovereignty, by opening...
...Maliki and his allies have the numbers to push SOFA through the parliament, but without overwhelming Sunni approval, the agreement would be tainted by its lack of national consensus. And so, the frenetic horse-trading over the security agreement has become a game of brinkmanship. On Wednesday, the prime minister personally lobbied recalcitrant parliamentarians at the nearby Rasheed Hotel, in exchanges that degenerated into fiery rows, according to a Maliki aide who was present...
...Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait, when Ronald Reagan stared down the Soviets with intermediate-range missiles, when F.D.R. went off on a Caribbean cruise and dreamed up the lend-lease program - and then managed to sell it to a highly skeptical public - all represent moments of leadership that required brinkmanship as well as salesmanship, a flair for grand strategy as well as a fine sense of tactics...