For various reasons, Obama's diplomacy ended up being a single roll of the dice. It had to work either immediately—or not at all.

My comments:

In other words, one chance and one chance only. No plan B. No contingency plans. No backup.

Dice is the small six-side block of plastic with a different number (1 through 6) marked on each side, used in gambling or game of chance.

If you roll the dice, therefore, you take a chance. And if you only have a single roll of the dice, then one chance and you’re done.

Hence, you’d better win because, if you lose, there’s no chance to make up for the loss.

In other words, do or die.

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本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.