26. Militant nationalism

     Chinese governmant seeks to preserve its ideology 

     of militant nationalism and self-dtermination.

25. hunker down

    Canned food and cheap goods thrive in a recession, as

    consumers hunker down to shave expenses.

24. Surgical bankruptcy

                 

       A surgical bankruptcy that makes the domestic

       auto industry is stronger is something that may

        not be desirable, but inevitable.

23. Brutally honest

            All new electronic medical gadgets that measure

             your pressure or heartbeats are brutally honest.

22. Crunches underfoot

          In Afghanistan, history literally crunches underfoot.

21. Clenched orotundity

         

          George W. Bush's presidency was strait-jacketed by

          his inability to command any style by clenched orotundity.

20. Perceptive assessment

          Tayeb Salih's perceptive assessment of the relationship

           betweetn East and West, his complex weaving of personal

           and politiacal lives, and the beauty of his prose has redefined

           fiction.