In the West Wing, advisers debate the risks: a strike could lead to open conflict, but doing nothing would change the balance of power in a volatile, war-prone region.
They go around the world, into the most volatile, war-torn spots on our planet and monitor elections in order to preserve the democratic process of voting.
Yet after two years of financing an increasingly volatile civil war that could end up threatening its wider interests, particularly in Lebanon and Iraq, some say that Iran may be becoming less inclined to fight for Mr Assad at all cost.
Having been raised by a volatile Korean War Marine Combat Veteran who suffered from Post Traumatic Stress, a former Marine himself and as a father of a fallen Army Combat Veteran who also suffered from PTS, John Henry has a broad understanding of the hardships associated with homecoming.
President Obama waded back into the nation's volatile culture wars on Friday as he assailed conservatives who have sought to restrict access to abortion and contraception, and promised women's activists he would stand with them "fighting every step of the way".
Volatile Cold War-era markets propelled the West to bring "good" technologies, like building dams for power and clean water, to less economically developed nations.
And the existence of those stabilizers is the dominant reason the American economy has been less volatile since World War II than it was in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
In the midst of last week's volatile tug-of-war over Elian Gonzalez, Mr. Gore canceled a news conference to avoid weighing in again on the issue at a potentially explosive moment, his campaign said.
Allen has joked about his family's values being "God and carpeting"; what dominates his memories of his "lower-lower-middle-class" family is his warring, volatile parents, whose unhappy vibes "were there all the time as soon as I could understand anything".
Growth has been volatile, punctuated by wars, violence and destruction, notably in Palestine, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Lebanon and Yemen, depleting human capital and infrastructure.
