The administration of George W. Bush pursued a strategy of trying to isolate Venezuela from its neighbors, and ended up isolating itself.
Meanwhile, the legendarily energetic and egotistic Richard Holbrooke, Obama's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, pursued a third strategy, trying to negotiate an end to the Taliban insurgency, that was supported by neither the White House nor the military.
Bert Fields, the entertainment lawyer who is representing HBO, said that Mr. Gandolfini's representatives had pursued a path of trying to win the star more money that was both destructive and hopeless.
So the state has pursued a policy of trying to persuade Brooklyn's unlinked collection of charity institutions to coordinate their services and become more efficient, even if that means that some of them might have to scale down significantly, or even close.
Over the past five years, President Kim, who is trailing in polls before elections in December, has pursued a policy of trying to improve ties with North Korea and has made South Korea an important source of food aid and foreign investment for the impoverished communist nation.
Following the War of 1812, the United States pursued a policy of trying to prevent wars among Native Americans in the Upper Mississippi River region.
For the last several years, Turkey has pursued a foreign policy of trying to improve relations with its neighbors, and trying to help its neighbors improve their relations with each other.
Still, the Arab protesters pursued a much clearer target: trying to oust dictators, and in a much more volatile, strategically important region.
Madison pursued a peculiar defense strategy: trying to establish that the victim was a dissolute, habitual drinker — "a party girl," he said — and also that she was sober enough to give consent.
Since the uprising began in March 2011, the Lebanese government has pursued a policy of "disassociation," trying to maintain at least the appearance of neutrality as the Syrian crisis has descended into civil war.
