By enfeebling diplomacy, Russia is taking the world into more dangerous territory.

By weakening the UK s position within the EU, he ended up strengthening the Euro skeptics within his party.

The quarrel between Europe and America is blocking concerted action by the two main Western economies, thereby weakening the West as a whole.

Sanctions purportedly undermine the regime by causing widespread unrest and by reducing the government's power base and tax collections.

In any case, support for the euro, already fragile, will erode further, weakening the common currency and fueling even greater tensions.

Chávez and Morales have been accumulating power by dismantling their societies fragile institutional checks and balances, while permanently weakening their adversaries.

Supply siders, by contrast, want to promote private (certainly not public!) investment through more tax cuts and further deregulation.

Governments compete with each other and with other organizations to enhance their own credibility and weaken that of their opponents.

A Chinese military posture that is too aggressive could produce a countervailing coalition among its neighbors, thereby weakening China s hard and soft power.

America s neo conservatives have wasted a large part of their country s power and moral authority in an unnecessary war in Iraq, willfully weakening the only global Western power.

In such conditions, most firms and consumers will be cautious about spending an option value of waiting thus further weakening the economy.

The US Congress still has not approved the IMF reform package agreed in 2010, weakening one of the most important international institutions.

Moreover, many major central banks are implementing variants of QE alongside the Fed, dampening the effect of the Fed s actions on the dollar s value.

From the German point of view, France only wants to solve its national budget and debt problems at Germany s expense, simultaneously weakening Germany s competitiveness.

There is no easy answer, but to the extent that it is possible to weaken a government without weakening an economy, such steps should be taken.

Some claim that smaller entities can fail without impairing the system, thus sparing taxpayers the cost of a bailout.

While the US has now explicitly welcomed the European initiative, it remains openly skeptical and unwilling to join, thus weakening the chances of success.

As Argentina's crisis worsens, indeed with output possibly collapsing by 10 to 15 this year and with unemployment soaring, the IMF keeps asking for deeper cuts. This is something like the 18 th century medical practice in which doctors treated feverish patients by drawing blood from them, weakening the patients further and frequently hastening their deaths.

This is something like the 18 th century medical practice in which doctors treated feverish patients by drawing blood from them, weakening the patients further and frequently hastening their deaths.

Worse, the Bank typically demanded myriad conditions in return for assistance, an approach that undermined democratic processes and domestic ownership of policies, thereby enervating their effectiveness.

In Japan, QE may have contributed to delays in economic reform and restructuring, thereby weakening longer term economic growth and exacerbating fiscal distress.

Deeply alarmed that the rapid spread of HIV AIDS has increased the vulnerability of communities, creating greater levels of dependency and severely reducing their ability to cope with humanitarian crises,

True, fundamentalists are a minority everywhere, but they are stoking widespread fear, loathing, and dreams of salvation, provoking violence and war while weakening moderates forces.

Oil prices are now running well above 50 a barrel, partly owing to short run supply shocks, such as the Iraq conflict, Nigerian labor disputes, the conflict between Yukos Oil and the Russian government, and Florida's recent hurricanes. Oil prices may fall once these shocks dissipate, but speculative effects could keep them relatively high, weakening the world economy and depressing stock markets.

Indeed, Mashal s decision has effectively ended his ties to his two most important allies, thereby not only weakening his position, but also increasing his readiness to embrace political moderation.

Oil prices may fall once these shocks dissipate, but speculative effects could keep them relatively high, weakening the world economy and depressing stock markets.

The administration s policy in Iraq is now strengthening Iran regionally at the expense of America s Arab allies, undermining America s own efforts to forge a Middle East peace, and weakening Iraq s nascent democracy.

The huge trade deficit provides the spectacle of the world's richest country borrowing almost two billion dollars a day from abroad, contributing to the weak dollar and representing a major source of global uncertainty.

They are misleading and dangerous, not only because the crisis in the labor market is not yet over, but also because they contribute to complacency, thereby reducing pressure for reform.

Subjecting banks, some of which are still ailing, to new regulation may lead them to curtail lending even more, thereby further weakening the pace of economic recovery.

The huge trade deficit provides the spectacle of the world's richest country borrowing almost two billion dollars a day from abroad, contributing to the weak dollar and representing a major source of global uncertainty.