Word: wider
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Iraq's disintegration was the harbinger of a wider regional meltdown. The irony was that terrorism thrived more readily in the new Middle Eastern democracies than in the bad old dictatorships. It was no coincidence that, outside Iraq, the terrorist organizations causing the most trouble in the region were operating out of southern Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank. In all those places, elections had been held. Yet those who won them--Hizballah in Lebanon and Hamas in the occupied territories--were historically terrorist organizations...
...economic slowdown of late 2006 was part of a wider crisis of globalization, as energy prices soared and the drive toward free trade lost momentum. With oil stuck above $70 per bbl. and the Doha round of trade negotiations defunct, growth was bound to slacken. But what made matters unexpectedly worse was miscalculations by the world's central bankers...
...Hizballah and its backers, of course, this isn't just about charity. The scramble to rebuild Lebanon's bombed-out landscape has become a central front in a wider contest for influence in the new Middle East. On one side are Hizballah's Shi'ite Muslim militants and their leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallahwho boast of winning a "divine victory" over the Jewish state--and the group's patrons, Iran and Syria. On the other are the U.S. and its Arab allies, like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, who have been blindsided by the surge in Hizballah's prestige across...
...country that has ricocheted between peace and war continuously for the past three decades. Little wonder that few Lebanese have much faith in the "cessation of hostilities" established by U.N. Resolution 1701 two weeks ago. As with past troubles in Lebanon, hopes for peace are bound up in wider regional, even global, disputes, like the Arab-Israeli conflict as well as the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program. Most importantly, Lebanese worry that while Resolution 1701 suited the immediate needs of Hizballah and Israel in its call for a cease-fire, it satisfied the central demands of neither...
...flowering of Chinese Christianity reflects a wider religious awakening. Long criticized by Western governments and human-rights groups for its virulently antireligious policies, China's central government has in recent years adopted a more lenient attitude toward religious expression. Traditionally, the Communist Party allowed membership in five officially approved religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestant Christianity and Catholicism. Anything falling outside those groups was officially shunned. Even those adhering to "approved" religions have to register to worship in churches and temples approved by the state. But those rules are becoming harder to enforce. These days, Chinese flock to everything from mystical...