Mr Assad's people have now instilled fear in them by predicting dire consequences were the regime to fall.
Still, if you look beyond the dire warnings, Davos also offers plenty of hope.
And the cost in terms of beggar-thy-neighbour protectionism and diplomatic poison would be dire.
That has dire consequences not only for fishermen but for seabirds and rare waders too.
The movie Gasland put the skills of Hollywood to work in spreading a similar dire message.
Doctors fear that a rising tide of obesity will pose dire health consequences for the nation.
The Carnegie-Mellon researchers found that closing even one plant could have dire environmental effects.
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Even without the absence from the market of Libyan petroleum, the situation seems dire.
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Dinamation is in dire financial straits, with most of its dinos reportedly frozen in warehouses.
All of these dire warnings may be true but again they may not be.
"Should Iran acquire nuclear weapons, that danger would become very dire, indeed, " McCain said.
Citi economists in July made one of the most dire predictions of the situation in Greece.
Those dire predictions were used to justify more regulations, more taxes, more control over people's lives.
In a less dire example, it's simply annoying to have one's phone reserved for video duty.
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Management is dire, we need someone to come in and sort out this mess.
Take away the weight of the Capitals' history, and the team's plight doesn't look so dire.
But if it's too dire, he risks sending GM's BBB- credit rating into the junk pile.
It has happened before under more dire circumstances, after the herd all headed for the exit.
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Between rising fees and overzealous restrictions, news about carry on luggage is usually dire.
It's a dire situation that would take decades and untold billions of dollars to rectify.
The fighting has devastated the Syrian economy and left many people in dire straits.
That was terrible news for LBT people, who are in dire need of support.
As dire as conditions are in Cuba, the situation in Haiti is even worse.
I'm one of those guys who's visited by the muse when things are dire.
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According to the North Korea expert, Chinese media isn't reporting on the situation in dire tones.
Japan's actions, she said, had helped "stave off an even more dire global economic collapse".
The consequences of the myth of "the great heroic general" have been dire, he says.
Not every company is in dire straits and some are even doing OK, despite the economy.
Republicans issue increasingly dire warnings of the disaster this health care bill will be.
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