But it looks as though big chunks of the continent must be cut adrift, or the whole of it will sink.

FORBES: What Gives? Bread Or Circus?

As state-owned enterprises and uncompetitive farms are cut adrift by government, grievances against the state will mount and losers will demand help.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Will China's ��Rigged Capitalism' Undo the W.T.O.?

So why don't the puffin-hunters just cut adrift from Denmark (which halved the land mass of the European Community two decades ago by granting self-rule to Greenland)?

ECONOMIST: Will the Faeroes flee the nest?

When the rest of the country never sees the broken families and children cut adrift from addiction, then a pharmaceutical company can get off with a fine and a pat on the rump for years of dumping pain drugs like OxyContin into these rural communities.

NPR: In Rural Poverty Fight, Showing Up Is a First Step

Then, in some trick of the light, or because she sagged her chin into her wrinkling neck, or her too short trousers rode up above her ankle socks as she was sitting cross-legged, Ally saw for a moment the old woman she would become, vulnerable and stubborn, cut adrift.

NEWYORKER: She��s the One

Mr Obama must make clear that he will not cut them adrift and will not tolerate attempts to destabilise their governments.

ECONOMIST: America and Russia

For those reasons, Beijing is unlikely to cut Pyongyang adrift, even if it pushes North Korea harder to end its nuclear provocations and reform its broken-down economy.

NPR: North Korea Nuke Test Could Test China's Patience