Word: prods
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...core problem here is the nature of the North Korean regime. To be sure, the Bush Administration would agree that Kim's Stalinist government is the fundamental cause of the nuclear crisis. But Bush seems to entertain unrealistic ideas about replacing that regime, rather than more pragmatically trying to prod it into undertaking major structural change...
...plan. Some Western diplomats believe that Hussein was willing to go to Damascus to try to preserve his role in the process, which has been stalled by Arafat's refusal to recognize Israel. By meeting with Assad, who has ties with anti-Arafat P.L.O. dissidents, Hussein may hope to prod Arafat into a compromise. Assad, however, seems determined to block any agreement among Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians. The Israelis, clearly nervous about the meeting, had to weigh the impact that any retaliatory strike into Lebanon or Syria might have on the two leaders. The consequences could be unpredictable...
...coming months, Mandelson will certainly need all the political skills he can muster. The World Trade Organization ( wto) is trying to prod the world's trade ministers into a new multilateral accord. Trade experts say the prospects for a deal are looking better because of progress on one of the big stumbling blocks: U.S. and E.U. subsidies to their sugar growers, which distort world market prices. But French officials are nervous about the wto and some are deeply suspicious of Mandelson, viewing him as Blair's man in Brussels. That could make it hard for him to persuade Chirac...
...Washington insists it won't use humanitarian aid as a stick to prod Pyongyang back to the negotiating table. "The President has always made clear that food shouldn't be used as a diplomatic weapon," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan last week. The U.S. sent more than 500,000 tons of food aid in 1999, but last year it pledged just 50,000 tons, and has yet to promise any new food aid this year. (U.S. officials complain that Pyongyang still isn't allowing adequate international monitoring to ensure food goes to the needy.) Meanwhile, South Korea...
...point, placing a huge chunk of reddish clay on the wheel, Barnard alternatively pressed and stretched the shapeless mass into an imposing two-foot tall tower. Within minutes, he reshaped the mound into an attractive vase. He lifted it off the wheel and began to prod it with his fingers, smushing in the smooth, round sides and denting the upper lip quite a bit. “Now,” he says, satisfied, “it feels heavy...