Word: sine
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Lincoln was largely self-taught in the area of books and literature. But in politics he underwent a long, hard schooling from his peers, and he graduated magna sine laude from that bruising course. Opponents would later exaggerate his crudity; but as a man on the frontier who neither drank whiskey nor smoked cigars, he used his disarming gifts as a storyteller in ways that later Americans have preferred not to remember. Today it might be called a character issue that Lincoln told racist and obscene stories to make a point among his none too delicate peers...
...obvious even that early that the coup was ill planned and curiously halfhearted. The plotters neglected to carry out that sine qua non of successful coups: the immediate arrest of popular potential enemies before they could begin organizing a resistance. In particular, the failure to make sure that Yeltsin was taken into custody (there were some reports that an attempt at an arrest was made, but botched) was fatal. Inexplicably, the putschists did not even pull the plug on the communications of anyone except Gorbachev. Bush and other foreign leaders were amazed at how easily they could get through...
Part of it is a question of style. Contemporary peace activists might be naive and intellectually slovenly, but they are dissenters, and dissent is both sine qua non and proof positive of a functioning democracy...
...many words, the U.S.S.R., China (whose Foreign Minister, Qian Qichen, Baker met in Cairo) and France indicated that they would at least not veto a Security Council resolution approving the use of force. But the allies generally made it clear that such a resolution is a sine qua non if they are to go into battle alongside...