The deal, which has not yet been completed, was made under duress: the foreign consortium came under strong pressure from the federal authorities over huge cost overruns and crucially from Mr Mitvol's agency over alleged environmental violations.
A more sanguine view holds that even 21st-century Washington has shown it can act if the country feels under maximum duress, particularly in foreign affairs.
Foreign holdings of U.S. Treasurys, under duress, could be sold and the money repatriated in a mad dash to shore up domestic balance sheets.
The political class has consciously and systemically used identity-politics to advance its material interests and undermine institution-building and nation-building; in moments of duress it has called on foreign powers to sustain its dominance.
Apple's tax arrangements with Ireland are now being probed by European Commission, which suspects they amount to illegal state aid.Dublin's backpedalling under duress has kindled fears that foreign firms, many of which moved to Ireland mainly for its flexible tax policies and regulation, will leave for more accommodating climes.
The only thing that could save the women's movement from a further duress is to distance itself from foreign 'pro-democracy' funding and abandon even peaceful street protests.
Foreign investors are buying aggressively, taking advantage of American duress and a weak dollar to snap up what many see as bargains, while making inroads to the world's largest market.
But even as French politicians stepped up their pressure on the bank, they sought to head off any efforts by foreign banks to acquire Société Générale while it is under duress.
North Korea typically frees foreign detainees after they admit their crimes, but many say after their release that their confessions were given under duress.
As the pockmarked walls of the British fort attest, America wouldn't be the first foreign power to lose its way in Afghanistan.Despite claims that support for the Taliban is weak or extracted under duress, support in rural Zabul, at least, remains high.
