In style, at least, Mr. Yar'Adua is a point-for-point opposite of the brash, sometimes confrontational former president.
Many of the outsized personalities of the past have gone, including Mr. Florio, Ms. Brown, the late Alex Liberman, the aristocratic Russian émigré who was the longtime editorial director, and Ron Galotti, the effervescent and confrontational former publisher of GQ, Vanity Fair and Vogue.
And in Ecuador, the Chávez protégé Rafael Correa, an outspoken anti-American, has been replaced by his less confrontational former Vice-President, Lenín Moreno, who appears to have seen the writing on the wall and is reëstablishing good relations with the United States).
The reformist daily Bahar newspaper gave a positive account of Rouhani's address, saying the more moderate leader, who replaced confrontational former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month, had "conveyed to the ears of the world Iran's message of peace, hope, freedom and the injustice of sanctions".
Bergeson said she took that to mean something like "I'm going to beat you". "He had a chance to be gracious, and he chose to be confrontational," said former Assemblyman and Supervisor Bruce Nestande, a friend of Bergeson.
Atheism – like most online communities – has always had characters who enjoy being confrontational; Pat Condell – the former comedian, turned old man shouting at clouds – existed long before Reddit.
The trouncing deepened rifts within the party which, until the national elections, was led by former prime minister Matteo Renzi, whose confrontational style also lost supporters.
Some people noted the absence of the confrontational style of former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who was known to push some racially divisive buttons.
This former Pennsylvania senator is a confrontational social conservative with strong views against homosexuality, but not a strong record on fiscal conservatism.
The progress made in this area of verification is breathtaking when one considers the confrontational situation with the former Soviet Union 25 years ago.
