There are enormous benefits to the American refusal to go gently into that good night.

But the American refusal to sign the biodiversity treaty is not expected to be a fatal blow.

The American refusal to attend the meeting proved embarrassing, causing the Russians to cancel it.

An American refusal to sell Taiwan the weapons would cause enormous bitterness on the island, the officials said.

The so-called Ljubljana gap strategy proved ultimately to be little more than a bluff owing to American refusal and skepticism upon the whole operation.

American refusal, Mr. Patten said, would have scuttled the conference.

The American refusal thus produced disastrous consequences for the credibility and application of these policies.

Each time, there was an intricate interplay between the American refusal to take no for an answer and the gamble for peace by a great regional leader.

The animosity against Joan was said to have its origin in the American refusal to believe her report of the wreck of their rocket.

The Chinese demand for an apology for the episode is as understandable in political and human terms as the American refusal to apologize.