THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary - March 16, 2018 - Topic 2

Rex Tillerson sacking: Rexit and beyond

Even by his standards for unexpected diktats, U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to fire his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, and replace him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo, came out of the blue. Mr. Tillerson, who was the CEO of ExxonMobil Corporation before taking up the role, did not agree with Mr. Trump on fundamental policy matters, the President said. This is widely seen as an allusion to Mr. Tillerson’s preference, contra-Trump, for diplomacy as a means of defusing the North Korean crisis. 

Also implied was a widening chasm between the two men on the merits of the Iran nuclear deal. With Mr. Tillerson’s departure, the number of senior officials exiting the Trump administration after a little more than a year has reached at least 24. Less than a week before the long-rumoured “Rexit”, White House Chief Economic Adviser Gary Cohn, formerly a Wall Street banker, quit his post over his opposition to Mr. Trump’s proposal to levy hefty steel and aluminium tariffs. And, less than a week before Mr. Cohn, White House Communications Director Hope Hicks resigned after admitting to a Congressional panel investigating Russian influence on the 2016 election that she had occasionally told “white lies” on Mr. Trump’s behalf. Rumours now swirl that National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster may also soon be ousted. The question at this point is: does the existing coterie of senior White House officials enjoy the confidence of their President to a sufficient magnitude as to ensure that policies can be executed in a meaningful way?

In one sense, there does not appear to be cause for alarm over the incessant departures from the White House. It is quite possible that Mr. Trump has used his first year in office to consolidate his vision and attract the right talent to realise his governance paradigm, essentially rooted in a nationalistic, or “America First”, world view. Take the case of Mr. Pompeo: he is far more aligned with Mr. Trump’s hawkish approach towards the Kim Jong-un regime than Mr. Tillerson was. There is a case to be made that Mr. Trump’s hardline stance is what is ultimately bringing the North Koreans to the negotiating table. Mr. Tillerson, insistent on talks, was likely to have been an impediment to this strategy. The deeper message is that the liberal order of the Obama years is gone. Propriety, protocol and punditry no longer hold sway — Mr. Trump had no quarrel with Mr. Tillerson over the Secretary leaving numerous senior State Department posts vacant, but only cared about the top diplomat’s concurrence with his strategy. The President will likely apply this principle — and find himself the right people — in other policy areas as well, such as trade and immigration. Nations that engage with America may glean valuable lessons from this churn.

Vocabulary

Fundamental: forming a necessary base or core; of central importance.

Example: The protection of fundamental human rights

Synonyms: basic, underlying, core, foundational, rudimentary, elemental

Antonyms: unimportant, insignificant, incident

Allusion: an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.

Example: An allusion to Shakespeare

Synonyms: reference to, mention of, suggestion of, hint to, intimation of, comment on

Implied: strongly suggest the truth or existence of something not expressly stated

Example: The salesmen who uses jargon to imply his superior knowledge

Synonyms: insinuate, suggest, hint (at), intimate, say indirectly, indicate

Antonyms: verbal, express

Departure: the action of leaving, typically to start a journey.

Example: The day of departure

Synonyms: leaving, going, leave-taking, withdrawal, exit, egress, retreat

Antonyms: arrival

Hefty: large, heavy, and powerful.

Example: A hefty young chap

Synonyms: burly, heavy, sturdy, strapping, bulky, brawny, husky, strong

Antonyms: weak, inconsiderable, light

Occasionally: at infrequent or irregular intervals; now and then.

Example: We met up occasionally for a drink

Synonyms: sometimes, from time to time, every now and then

Sufficient: enough; adequate.

Example: A small income that was sufficient for her needs

Synonyms: enough, plenty of, ample, adequate, satisfactory

Antonyms: poor, low, light, depleted, short, shy

Incessant: continuing without pause or interruption.

Example: The incessant beat of the music

Synonyms: ceaseless, unceasing, constant, continual, unabating, interminable

Antonyms: noncontinuous, discontinuous

Paradigm: a typical example or pattern of something; a model.

Example: There is a new paradigm for public art in this country

Synonyms: model, pattern, example, exemplar, template, standard

Sway: a rhythmical movement from side to side.

Example: The easy sway of her hips

Synonyms: swing, roll, shake, oscillation, undulation

Antonyms: be in subjection, be subject, comply, obey, submit

Concurrence: a point at which three or more lines meet.

Example: The number of possible concurrences in the diagram

Synonyms: co-occurrence, meeting of minds, coincidence

Antonyms: antagonism, battle, conflict, contention, contest