Word: vast
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...India, in particular, was supposed to weather a downturn relatively well because its economy depends largely on domestic consumption rather than massive exports as does China's. But there's nowhere to hide from higher oil prices, and several factors make the crunch particularly painful in Asia. The vast majority of countries in the region are net importers of oil. Only Malaysia and Vietnam are able to produce enough crude to be net sellers. In addition, several Asian governments for years have spent billions of dollars subsidizing fuel costs to keep it cheap for their poor and often quarrelsome citizens...
...repressive government. But since the earthquake in Sichuan, the immense state-led rescue effort and the outpouring of charity from the Chinese people has taken center stage. Has the country really changed that much? Not really. The two phenomena on display - nationalism and compassion - are related facets of the vast, multidimensional nation that China is. When it comes to my homeland, I feel them both...
...democracy, it remains to be seen what kind is suitable for China and when it can be introduced. Democracy is effective only when supported by the appropriate institutions and by cultural maturity. China is a vast country accustomed to imperial rule, where preserving overall harmony by suppressing individual freedoms is accepted. The current government is autocratic, but it is also adept at keeping the nation together by fast-tracking reforms. As an autocracy, moreover, Beijing can act with unparalleled efficiency for good, as shown in the massive rescue operation after the recent earthquake...
...shoulder width, thigh length and waist circumference--and announced she would have the honor of serving her motherland as a weight lifter. The then 14-year-old daughter of vegetable farmers had little choice in the matter. She had been chosen to be a cog in China's vast sports machine, a multibillion-dollar apparatus designed with one primary goal in mind: churning out Olympic gold medalists...
...invasion of Iraq (a case study in what happens when the militant conservatives get their way), the anti-engagers proceed as though history has not happened. Their selective memory of Reagan's foreign policy is telling. They correctly recall Reagan's having denounced the Soviets as "evil," his vast increases in U.S. defense spending and his support for a missile-defense shield. What they conveniently block out is the turn Reagan took in 1983 toward negotiation, which played a key role in bringing about the end of the cold war. When Reagan decided to stop denouncing the "evil empire...