The administration's pressure thus encapsulates the problems of "public diplomacy," the term for the uphill efforts by Washington to sell American policies in the region.

Smilin' Jack's gang and my rohobo gang were supposed to be working together, but real cooperation was an uphill effort.

Democrats acknowledge that they face an uphill effort.

It's an uphill effort by liberals to infiltrate what has long been staunchly conservative terrain, but the timing seems good.

It was level for the first kilometer, then the uphill effort began in earnest on the Glymsbrekkur, a seven-hundred-foot climb.

In a sincere but uphill effort to make the process seem more humane, each aspirant got a cheery greeting and a brisk "Great!"

His legs balked at the uphill effort.

Yet in an often uphill effort to build housing for the homeless, she has indeed found support from the Mayor.

Mr. Richardson, sought to put an optimistic face on his uphill effort to condemn Iraq.

But it faces an uphill effort, and the shifting political landscape will play a major role in its long-term vitality.