But, in part because there is limited domestic political pressure to do so, they have rarely shown a lasting commitment to dealing with the continent's deeply rooted troubles.
But momentum is a very real thing in software development, and its loss is a leading indicator of some kind of root trouble that needs to be addressed.
While in Minneapolis, this may be a product of deeply rooted economic troubles facing manufacturing economies in general, in Portland and Seattle, the high number of priced-to-sell homes more likely reflects the excess housing inventory that the housing bubble brought to the West Coast.
* the kinds of questions to ask when seeking to meet the needs of local communities and the emotional and philanthropic desires of donors -- Moving toward improvement means giving people the means to root out trouble and then steer well clear of it.
So deeply rooted was the trouble, he said, that "we cannot say with confidence that failings of care are limited to one hospital".
However disappointing some houses were, many buyers soon faced far greater trouble rooted in the relationship that Mr. Percudani formed with one of the world's most prestigious banks.
She used to work mostly in environmental law, but said clients now couldn't afford to pay or to fight big corporations, and she was handling an increasing number of divorce cases, particularly couples with young children whose breakups were rooted in financial trouble and the economic crisis.
His argument is that the true threat posed by Islamic militants is not large-scale confrontation rooted in the troubles of the Middle East.
And while no one has suggested that the trouble is rooted in the longstanding conflict between analysis and interpretation, it does appear that the various agencies failed to mesh as seamlessly as they might have.
Mr. Levitt said much of the trouble was rooted in pension accounting rules that "fail to reflect accurately" the cost of the benefits that public workers have earned or the value of the assets set aside to pay those benefits.
