They're either intended to punt a thorny issue off the agenda for a while, or else to hammer out an emerging solution, as the famous 1983 Social Security Commission managed to do.
Last week, the two governments addressed a thorny issue of recent years with a plan for the United States to relocate about half of its 19, 000 Marines based on Okinawa to other places in the Pacific region.
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From Baghdad to Okinawa, this is a thorny issue, and now is not a good time in Kabul to negotiate an agreement guaranteeing American troops immunity from local prosecution even after 2014.
The riots came as a surprise to the vast majority of Britons and raised thorny questions for a country in the throes of an austerity program that has slashed budgets for social services and policing.
Its human rights record has long been been criticised by campaigners and is a thorny issue in relations with its ally the United States, for whom it hosts a major military base.
"It's a thorny issue on both sides, especially since the U.K. has cast doubt on whether Berezovsky would receive a fair trial over there and indeed be safe, " said Global Insight's Augur, adding that it is unlikely that Lugovoi will be extradited.
If it's a thorny problem we are assured the Good Lord will resolve what man cannot.
The rising trend of celebrity ambassadors for charities and global outreach is a thorny one.
But the thorny bush took a lot of time and effort to transplant and grow.
Firing people in a country that has youth unemployment in excess of 40% is a thorny issue.
An Apple TV set presents a thorny problem for Apple, one that still has no obvious answers.
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We'll forget what it's like to flex those dorsal muscles, to consciously decipher a thorny stretch of prose.
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Speculation over the delay in his appointment has centred on the thorny issue of a director of football.
Juvenile registration has long been a thorny issue even among supporters of the registry and the rules have evolved over time.
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Last weekend Hagel spoke with Karzai, and officials said the two men agreed to resolve the thorny issue within a week.
Moreover, land acquisition has become a thorny political issue amid concerns that farmers may not be adequately compensated in the buying frenzy.
This has been a thorny business in recent years: Big Ten teams have won exactly one of the last 12 Rose Bowls.
Oh, and finally resolve that thorny definition of a cynic, as a person who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Just before the end of last year, the parties resolved a thorny issue involving royalty payments made to union members for each container unloaded.
But this is a thorny issue which BMW is reluctant to discuss - beyond Mr Biggs' insistence that "our business is in good shape".
Proving social outcomes is a thorny challenge for those of us in the impact investing space, whether we serve communities in Brooklyn or Cameroon.
This simplistic view of a thorny problem does Blanchett few favours.
How to improve teaching has also long been a thorny question.
Hundreds have died making the perilous crossing, inflaming tensions around what was already a thorny issue for the minority Labor government of Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
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Despite all this, obesity has proved a thorny policy problem.
Faisal al Yafai writes in the UK's Guardian that Israel's illegal annexation of the Heights from Syria is a thorny issue to resolve and remains the main sticking point between the two countries.
The vaccinations became a thorny issue in Saudi Arabia and some neighboring countries after the government strongly recommended the vaccine to people coming to the country for the Hajj, a pilgrimage required of Muslims at least once in their lives.
This is a thorny problem, however.
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