Word: burnish
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Many analysts, however, took a more cynical view of Chirac's motivations. Recalling that it was Charles de Gaulle who had first engendered France's force de frappe in the '60s, they accused Chirac of trying to prove his Gaullist credentials and burnish his presidential stature by reaffirming France's status as a nuclear power. "He thought he could prove to the French and the world that because of his decision France was back, and he was an authentic President," wrote Serge July, influential editor of the left-leaning daily Liberation. "Instead the world and the French have witnessed...
...sending 20,000 fresh troops to breathe heavily across Kuwait's border and then withdrawing them after America clenched its fist, he managed to remind the world that he was a loose cannon, derail the momentum toward lifting the U.N. sanctions that are bleeding his people dry and burnish the prestige of an American President sorely in need of a foreign-policy success. "It was a godsend," said a U.N. diplomat at the Security Council. Exulted a State Department official: "Saddam blinked, he turned tail, and if he tries it again, we're going to whack...
...creative trio only Levine trusted his material and worked to burnish it. His Wagner has been criticized for being too slow. Certainly he chooses rapture rather than excitement. In the Festspielhaus, with its marvelous acoustics, every instrument is audible and clear. Under Levine's baton the music seems translucent, and the melodies play themselves. "It is as if I am standing in front of a treasure chest," the conductor says, "and the idea is to draw it all out where the listener can hear it and feel it and get involved...
...Yong Ju was heir apparent. Then, suddenly, Jong Il was publicly hailed as the "party center"; soon afterward, he became Dear Leader to his father's Great Leader. He also became culture czar, producing movies and lecturing on the art of opera. Kim Il Sung spared nothing to burnish his son's reputation. The younger Kim was credited, years after the supposed incident, with saving his father from a 1967 coup attempt. He was named General Secretary of the Workers' Party. Though without military training, Kim Jong Il was elected in 1991 to succeed his father as commander...
...wonder the Clintons are eager to leave town. If nothing else, the European trip gives Clinton a chance to burnish his tarnished foreign policy credentials. His decision last week to extend favorable-trading status to China, while widely seen as the right move, is unlikely to gain him many points for decisiveness since he waffled for months on the issue before doubling back on his campaign position. Public support for his performance abroad has plummeted since January, and Clinton hopes a high-profile trip to honor the World War II generation will help explain his policies in the post- cold...