This left the companies to assume the risk if the funds' returns proved insufficient to meet those defined obligations.
"I call on people to believe in the sincerity of President Medvedev's attempts, but not to accept desires and simulations in the place of clearly defined obligations and working institutions," Mr. Khodorkovsky, now 47, wrote.
As one might expect, ZEP has sought to influence domains beyond its narrowly defined obligations to the EC, and the platform has established informal lines of communication both within the EC complex and in the public domain to those ends.
"We have a unique role and defined obligation--one, to find work for our people and two, to help people manage the stress inherent in the situation we're all in," he said in a recent interview.
And unlike other TARP programs, including Obama's HAMP initiative, the Ohio government actually requires banks to sign a legally binding contract with the state, creating clearly defined obligations: the bank gets money, but the mortgage must be modified.
Thus, it is important to define obligations and rights and to establish roles, items, and standards.
Recent European Directives regarding the improvement of personnel safety and health at the work site have been incorporated into Italian legislation under specific laws that clearly define obligations and responsibilities of the employer, the director, the foreman and of the personnel, with the aim of protecting personnel and emphasizing prevention.
In the case of Mr. Tobgay, he defined his obligation as a family tradition.
His 1992 classic, The Diversity of Life, which defined our obligation to conserve ecosystems, is being reissued by Penguin in April.
Even so, it bears repeating: the American people have defined their obligation to "support the troops" in the narrowestimaginable terms, ensuring above all that such support requires absolutely no sacrifice on their part.
