"What will happen is that President Clinton will lay down the law to Chairman Arafat that there should be no violence in response to this project, " said Alan Makovsky of the Washington Institute Near East Policy.

CNN: Arafat arrives in Washington

The IMF has been criticised in the past as being a group of developed countries trying to lay down the law to struggling countries, which is why the decision to give growing nations more votes is important.

BBC: Obama hails 'tough regulations'

The Franco-German partnership, the Union's motor for most of the past 45 years, has become less mighty, partly because it is harder for two countries, even two big ones, to lay down the law to 13 others than to seven, in the mid-1970s, or to their original four partners.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne

My mom tried to lay down the law, but I found ways around her.

NEWYORKER: The Other Place

While seeking to dismantle a raft of regulations that have hobbled business, bureaucrats want to lay down the law on what precisely constitutes voluntary activity.

ECONOMIST: Japan

Both the law makers and law breakers have too much invested in the conflict for either to lay down arms easily.

ECONOMIST: Ending the war on drugs