Word: tenuously
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...veto any application, and Taiwan has tried - and failed - to regain membership more than a dozen times since being expelled in 1971, when the U.N. granted China's seat to Beijing. American censure, therefore, comes mostly out of a desire to avoid upsetting what has always been a tenuous peace between the mainland and Taiwan. In July, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang warned the proposed vote could "have a grave impact on cross-Straits relations and seriously endanger peace and stability across the Straits and Asia-Pacific region...
...Which raises the question: If Musharraf's position is so tenuous, why is the U.S. so lukewarm to Sharif? Perhaps because the Bush Administration does not think he will ever be a serious contender for power. "His popularity is linked not to what he is but what he represents," says a State Department official. A senior Bush Administration official says Bhutto's party "has historically been more popular and closer to the moderate center than [Sharif's] party...
...From a U.S. perspective, the choices are grim: Musharraf's tenuous grip on power has eroded his ability to tackle terrorism and extremism, but neither Bhutto nor Sharif would necessarily be a more effective ally in Washington's war on terror. A Bhutto-Musharraf pact would probably further incense militants. Sharif has a better relationship with the religious groups who might rein in the tribal militants, but may be less inclined to do the bidding of the U.S., particularly at a time when being seen to be allied with Washington is a political liability in Pakistan...
...Sunni stronghold in the middle of the country goes a ways toward cementing the very partitioning of Iraq that the Bush team has long sought to avoid. Which means the U.S. has to reckon with its new Sunni allies on roughly the same terms that lobbyists calculate the tenuous support of Senators they don't really trust: the question isn't whether you can buy the Sunnis; it's whether they will stay bought. "These people used to be America's problem, so America has bought their friendship," says the Iraqi analyst. "When the Americans leave, these people will become...
...Sadr's cagey response to the violence underscores that the armed groups battling in Karbala and other Shi'ite areas aren't simply external forces the government must bring under control - they are, in essence, the government. SIIC and the Sadrists dominate Maliki's increasingly tenuous parliamentary majority. And, while the militias had more than enough fighters on hand in Karbala to spark serious violence, the central government had to bring in reinforcements from outside the area to reassert control...