Word: basic
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Groundhog Day? Not quite. But there is something awfully familiar about Secretary of State Colin Powell's upbeat assessment of the U.S.-China relationship following his weekend visit to Beijing. It appears to suggest that the Bush administration will pursue the same basic China policy as the Clinton administration did - which was, of course, essentially the same policy as the one pursued by Papa Bush...
...their tone. But the smiling face the Bush administration is now showing Beijing shouldn't be mistaken for a policy shift; it's simply a change in tone. Because, in fact, the tough talk of the early months wasn't actually a policy - it was simply a posture. The basic areas of conflict between China and the U.S. remain. But so does the basic mutual self-interest that binds them together...
...Israeli side, the policy of restraint following the atrocity at a Tel Aviv disco two months ago has won important international gains. But it has not solved the basic crisis presented by the intifada - Israelis, particularly in the West Bank and Gaza, have still been dying every week, and that creates tremendous pressure on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Sharon was elected on promises of restoring Israel's security, and even in his own cabinet calls are growing to deal a decisive blow to Arafat's Palestinian Authority...
...basic theory is so appealing: to replace cold war reliance on mutual suicide with 21st century security beneath a defensive umbrella. Though Russia and China possess by far the most nukes that could incinerate the U.S., the Administration says its shield isn't so much for protection from them but to defend against the possibility that a nasty regime in North Korea or Iraq or Iran will soon be able to loft a missile at America. A nuke is more likely to come in a suitcase than on a warhead, but the hurry-up argument doesn't deal with that...
...there have been attacks by sharks apparently impatient to be fed, according to George Burgess, head of the International Shark Attack File. Shark feeding is illegal in two Florida cities, and a campaign to ban it statewide is under way. "When you are training animals, you are changing their basic behavior and their respect for human beings," says Burgess...