Mr. Clinton has said he needs that "fast track" authority because other countries are reluctant to reach trade agreements that may then be significantly altered by Congress.

They also rarely function outside their home markets because countries use a hodgepodge of formats to transmit cellular signals.

The price is also kept artificially high because most countries, shamefully, still tax bed nets.

There was a retrograde step, though, because different countries published their own codes.

Cocaine production, by contrast, declined slightly last year, but not because coca-producing countries had managed to curb production.

Why should we now heedlessly sweep aside this global framework just because countries still sometimes - and in exceptional circumstances - find it necessary to take preventive measures?

It appeals to a gut instinct that America loses jobs because other countries don't play fair.

Hence the problem: because non-EU countries, especially Latin America, now want parity.

Fiscal consolidation is inevitable because countries accumulated high debts.

Finally, because other countries like Turkey - or even Egypt after, but also during, transition - are powerful competitors to Iran's ambitions.