Political commentators suggested that Ukraine was on the brink of a civil war.

Farther east, Afghanistan is suffering its second decade of violent conflict, while Pakistan seems to be chronically on the brink of war, civil war, or social breakdown.

The resulting political tensions led to a second Thirty Years War that brought Western civilization to the brink of collapse.

While the country is on the brink of (possibly) going to war again after the failed referendum, the President wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Belgian Revolution in 1830 and the resulting costs of keeping the Dutch army at a war footing until 1839 brought the Netherlands to the brink of bankruptcy.

Northeast Asia on the Brink

A Year on the Brink

Almost one year has passed now since former President Jean Bertrand Aristide left Haiti, a country then in a state of turmoil and on the brink of civil war.

By contrast, those nations that remain nostalgic for the cause of Che, such as Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia, are at this very moment poised on the brink of civil war.

Back to the Brink in Ukraine

Is the world economy on the brink of recession?

To the Brink and Back with Iran

Some large EU countries are on the brink of recession.

On previous occasions, whenever the financial system came to the brink of a breakdown, the authorities got their act together and pulled it back from the brink.

With Gaza poised on the brink of civil war, pity poor Mahmoud Abbas, who took over as president of the Palestinian Authority two and a half years ago, after the death of Yasser Arafat.

It also brought both countries to the brink of economic disaster.

History In 1961, India was on the brink of mass famine.

For countries on the brink, a merciless logic follows.

The world seemed to be teetering on the brink of nuclear catastrophe.

We could be on the brink of losing this huge humanitarian operation.

The Arab Spring has produced a relatively favorable outcome in Tunisia, where it started, but developments in Egypt, Libya, and Yemen remain far more uncertain, while Syria is on the brink of civil war.

Colombia s diplomatic relations with both countries were suspended, and Chávez s support of the FARC, which suffered its worst military defeats during Uribe s eight years as President, brought the country to the brink of war with Venezuela.

WASHINGTON, DC American foreign policy stands on the brink of substantial belt tightening.

We urge the Assembly to step back from the brink.

We are on the brink of a historic opportunity, and therefore of a challenge.

PRINCETON As Egypt trembles on the brink of civil war, with alarming levels of violence and hardening divisions on all sides, it is hard to find a truly bright spot anywhere in the Middle East or North Africa.

Water, electricity and healthcare facilities are being deliberately targeted. These war crimes have brought essential and life saving services to the brink of collapse. Critical shortages of medical supplies and physicians leave little help for the daily wounded.

Guinea, with a nasty military junta in power, is on the brink of disaster.

LONDON Syria is a living nightmare. Egypt hovers on the brink.

Indeed, Lebanon, following the collapse of Najib Mikati s government, is already on the brink of civil war, as direct intervention in Syria by Hezbollah, Iran s Lebanese proxy, to prevent Assad s overthrow has exacerbated the country s own longstanding sectarian tensions.

This led to a conflict between the major Dutch cities and the new stadtholder William II of Orange, bringing the Republic to the brink of civil war the stadtholder's unexpected death in 1650 only added to the political tensions.

The worst drought in 60 years has left millions of people at the brink of starvation.

I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly.

And now, AP reports that the Gaza phone network is on the brink of collapse.

A war in the Persian Gulf still the world s gas station would affect oil exports for some time, and energy prices would skyrocket, dealing a severe blow to a global economy that is teetering on the brink of recession.

Other states in the region have been teetering on the brink of failure from the outset.

Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood on the brink of the river

The problem with brinkmanship is that, sometimes, one does go over the brink.

Rather, the banking system is at the brink of insolvency, with a permanent loss in equity capital.

The financial sector and its free market ideology had brought the world to the brink of ruin.

Guevara, who was practically the architect of the Soviet Cuban relationship, then played a key role in bringing to Cuba the Soviet nuclear armed ballistic missiles that precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 and brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

And animals, almost on the brink of extinction, can be given a second chance. That's my next book.

In Finland, the anti European True Finns party has shot up from nowhere to the brink of power.

The most recent Greek rescue, put in place barely six weeks ago, is on the brink of collapse.

Finally, long term mismanagement and international sanctions have pushed the North Korean economy to the brink of collapse.