Word: strait
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...major gulf states. They had come to Muscat, the capital of Oman, to mark the 15th anniversary of Sultan Qaboos bin Said's accession to power and to celebrate his transformation of Oman into a prosperous nation courted by the West for its strategic location at the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the non-Communist world's oil flows...
...that provide the revenues needed to bankroll Iran's war effort. A string of air attacks in September, including low-altitude buzz bombing, temporarily stopped petroleum output at the terminal. If Kharg is totally disabled, Iran has threatened to choke off traffic through the 20- to 30-mile-wide Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. has said it would interpret closure of the passage as a strategic threat...
...danger of an Iranian blockade has lent special importance to Oman, which lies on the strait's southern shore. An Omani naval base at Ras Masandam monitors all ship movements through the channel, while the sultanate's fast and flashy Province-class patrol ships, each armed with eight radar-guided Exocet missiles, are on constant alert, occasionally shooing away Iranian intruders. Qaboos has also seen to it that Oman's 21,500-man volunteer army, navy and air force do not lack for equipment. He lavishes 46% of the national budget on the military and keeps it supplied with...
...docile parliament, recently passed a resolution authorizing military intervention if Taiwan declares formal independence, but the U.S. has pledged to defend Taiwan from unprovoked attack. In the past few months, relations between Beijing and Taipei have improved after a dangerously frosty winter, but the tensions across the Taiwan Strait will require constant--and subtle--engagement by the U.S. if they are not to flare up again...
...Your world isn’t driven by a model,” she says. “Your world is revealed and is illuminated by a model. A model is something you carry around in your head as a structure. This isn’t a strait jacket...