Word: undercut
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...grand strategies of superpower diplomacy were undercut last week by individual lunges for freedom. In Afghanistan, troops of the Soviet-backed Communist government surrounded the U.S. embassy in Kabul after a 19-year-old Soviet soldier slipped in through an open gate. Embassy personnel were allowed to come and go, but electricity to the building was cut off while U.S. diplomats tried to determine whether the soldier was seeking political asylum. Said Secretary of State George Shultz, en route to Moscow for presummit consultations: "Our posture is to do our best to look after his interests...
...homosexuals could not be further from the truth. In fact, in his presentation, Cameron expressly rejected the "China Solution" of execution as morally repugnant. In fact, it was his repudiation of this option that moved him to consider the quarantine option as a drastic, but possibly necessary step to undercut the pressure for even more Draconian measures...
...source of pride, a testament to the robustness of the U.S. economy and the eagerness of foreigners to swap their own currencies for dollars to be poured into American investments. The reputation of the U.S. as a "safe haven" for investments that will not be ravaged by inflation or undercut by leftist politicians certainly has been a factor in the dollar's rise, but most economists outside the Administration give far greater weight to an influence that is nothing to boast about: $200 billion budget deficits...
...think it's okay" goes the unsolicited but unimpassioned testimonial in Creatures of Love, one of two songs on the album that are about children. Like the visionary folk art that decorates the record sleeve, these two tunes about little ones impart a deceptively cozy air that is undercut with a keen sardonic edge. "We are . . . creatures of love/ From the sleep of reason" is the way the refrain runs, and Little Creatures becomes an extended lullaby for rationality. This may not guarantee the record a lingering chart life, but it is rock at its most enterprising and numinous...
...ratified and is timed to expire Dec. 31 would hardly seem cause for high drama. But this document is the 1979 U.S.-Soviet accord reached in the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, popularly known as SALT II. Despite its unratified status, both the Carter and Reagan Administrations pledged not to undercut it so long as Moscow did the same. Congress has demanded to know whether this policy will continue. After fierce debate within the Administration, Ronald Reagan planned to announce his decision early this week: the U.S. "basically" will comply with the terms, but is prepared to break them selectively...