But his own flirtation with a run against Mr. McCain does not appear to have provoked hard feelings so far.
By cutting short the time that Ms. Gibbons would serve in jail, the president risked provoking Muslim hard-liners in his country, who are among his key supporters.
The EFA's dilemma is not simply one of satisfying demands for justice by Ultras Ahlawy, the militant Ahly support group, which suffered the greatest loss of life without provoking die-hard Al Masri supporters but also goes to the heart of what really happened in Port Said.
He might have used a word like bigotry; he might even have spoken firmly to his more vehement followers in a way that provoked actual hard reflection.
Although some Arabs said they hoped that the toll would provoke a hard assessment by the United States of its policies in the region, others braced for possible retaliation.
And lawlessness, once provoked, is hard to dispel.Relations between big companies and impoverished locals are always tricky, but there are ways of reducing the risk that they may turn bloody.
As journalist Martin Bright disclosed in a study for Policy Exchange, a right-of-centre think-tank, the admission of Mr Sayeedi to Britain once provoked some hard internal arguments in the Foreign Office, with the office's adviser on Muslim affairs, Mockbul Ali, maintaining that Mr Sayeedi's exclusion would alienate many British Muslims.
I can just about remember when Channel 4 made thought-provoking, hard-hitting, intelligent programmes, as was its initial remit.
Intellectual containment also has the advantage of being low-risk in the sense that if it doesn't work it is unlikely to provoke a hard-power response.
Too often China has held back in the face of past North Korean provocations, sometimes arguing that pressing the country too hard risks provoking even more delinquent behaviour.
