Iraq is a threat chiefly because it is a magnet and a training ground for foreign fighters.
Poland, weak and fragmented, had become a marching ground for foreign armies who ravaged the country at will.
But none of this will matter if the American market continues to be a dumping ground for foreign steel.
Councils are being forced to overhaul their service to encourage householders to cut waste because China is refusing to be a dumping ground for foreign refuse.
Canada is an ideal testing ground for foreign expansion because the nations have much in common, and the cross-border taxation and shipping issues are good indications of what retailers will face in other foreign markets.
Relations began to cool after the 2016 elections, when evidence mounted that Facebook and YouTube had become fertile ground for foreign interference and domestic misinformation, threatening not only the party's values but also its electoral prospects.
BP's $6.75 billion commitment to create a giant new oil company here left businesspeople asking whether Russia, after a decade of zigzagging economic policies, had finally become safe, fertile ground for foreign investors.
Addressing a chorus of complaints by foreign investors, he said China would "put in place institutional arrangements to level the playing ground" for foreign companies in China, and he promised to meet personally with foreign business leaders during his final years in office.
"This is a good place for business but there are many others around the world," says He Lingguo, a sunburnt Chinese construction manager in Kenya who hopes to move to Venezuela.A decade ago Africa seemed an uncontested space and a training ground for foreign investment as China's economy took off.
While Hong Kong has long been a go-to destination for top-notch Chinese food, it is now becoming a stomping ground for foreign celebrity chefs, with Mario Batali and Paco Roncero joining the several culinary wunderkinds who have set up outposts in the Chinese territory.
