Word: gripped
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...contrary, sanctions are strengthening Hussein's grip on power. The Iraqi president's clandestine dealings with Russia and other Arab states have ensured that, in spite of the trade embargoes, the needs of his inner-circle are fulfilled. For Hussein and his allies, there is no shortage of luxury items. Of course, these goods are not available to the Iraqi people. Only those lucky enough to have a personal connection to the dictator have access to imported fruits and vegetables, medical care and other supplies. In essence, the only Iraqis who are not threatened by poverty are those who rely...
...approach may be to shift Israeli strategy toward punishing Palestinian leaders rather than the entire Palestinian population, as a way of isolating them from their own supporters. And sending positive messages to the Palestinians, as well as the neighboring Arab regimes and Washington, would even help him consolidate his grip on power in the Knesset. After all, his enemies are painting him as a warmonger; his approach will be to cloak himself in the mantle of realistic peacemaker...
...conservative Heritage Foundation, John Fonte, a senior fellow of the Hudson Institute, makes the case that for all the famous convergence at the center of American politics (supposedly a legacy of Clintonism - not too liberal, not too conservative, but a little of both), America remains in the grip of a profound culture...
...Wahid's grip on power, then, was predicated on playing the different power centers off against one another. The scale of his defeat Thursday suggests the strategy may have backfired: On one side of the power equation, he had antagonized the generals by attempting to diminish the power they'd traditionally wielded and accepting independence for East Timor. On the other, he had made enemies of the business and political elite of the Suharto era by pressing corruption charges against the former dictator and his family. To Megawati's allies, he was increasingly being seen as a dangerous and unstable...
...Almost from the get-go, however, the diminutive and nearly-blind president has struggled to keep his grip on power amid rampant corruption and political infighting, economic turmoil and the increasingly violent fracturing of Indonesia that followed last year's bloodletting in East Timor. Christian-Muslim violence continues to rage in the Moluccas, while the mineral-rich provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya press more forcefully for independence - a scenario as unpalatable to the military as it is to the nationalist Megawati...