True to his unsavory reputation, Pasquale did not give them away.

If we don't allow them this magazine will publish a rather unsavory article about your father.

The US made Pakistan a top priority Cold War ally. As a result, many unsavory aspects of Pakistan s conduct went unchallenged by America, while its military and intelligence services were handsomely resourced.

Nearly 70 years ago, when George Orwell examined the tendency toward ambiguity, he offered the rather simple explanation that political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible. In other words, hazy language is necessary to obscure unsavory realities.

A moment of truth is slowly approaching. Much of the world is working to reduce its dependence on volatile or unsavory energy suppliers by adopting new technologies such as hydraulic fracturing and increasing purchases from places like Australia, Norway, Qatar, and the United States, which has eased restrictions on the export of natural resources.

Indeed, an attack would most likely increase America s reliance on unsavory Islamist rulers in countries ranging from Saudi Arabia and Qatar to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Some Arab monarchs have pledged to bankroll the US attack an investment that they would easily recover, given that the war talk has already increased oil prices.

According to this idealist view, countries that are democratic and treat their citizens with respect are more likely to treat other countries citizens with respect. The problem, of course, is that affecting the trajectories of other societies is typically a difficult, long term proposition in the meantime, there are pressing global challenges that need to be addressed, sometimes with the assistance of unsavory regimes.