The question is whether basketball, instead of strengthening their immunity to misfortune, only weakened it further.
Instead of strengthening military ties to Taiwan (front page, Feb. 2), the United States should strengthen its ties to India.
Instead of strengthening China's position, the "air defense identification zone" has unsettled and united its neighbors.
The new version of TSCA proposed last year included provisions that would pre-empt state law, which critics see as a weakening – instead of strengthening – public health protection.
It's the first time since Obama came to office promising to close Guantánamo that Congress is moving to ease restrictions instead of strengthen them.
Instead of strengthening her status, the current flurry of interest runs counter to the legacy Kennedy wished to leave the world.
Meanwhile, as long as the United States is there to keep the peace, the governments of Japan and South Korea will continue to snipe at each other, instead of strengthening their alliance.
Clemens said he guessed that he might have reinjured his groin because he rested it instead of strengthening it between starts.
Even Lincoln's friend Orville Hickman Browning believed the arrests ordered by the president were "illegal and arbitrary, and did more harm than good, weakening instead of strengthening the government".
He criticized the United States for focusing too much on strengthening General Musharraf, a military ruler who is a crucial ally in the campaign against terrorism, instead of strengthening democratic institutions here.
