1.   Too many people still see union membership as belonging to a militant organization.

2.   Anti-European elements in the governing British Conservative Party see membership in the single-currency arrangement as an abdication of sovereignty.

3.   As long as membership could be seen as a way of providing peace and prosperity, the club could proceed by economic measures and keep its aims vague.

4.   China sees membership in the World Trade Organization as an opportunity to enhance its national prestige and to insure that other countries cannot discriminate against Chinese products.

5.   ERM membership was once seen as the path to monetary union.

6.   NATO membership is seen as emblematic of being accepted in the West, of having grown out of the Communist past.

7.   Russian officials have bluntly rejected Western complaints, but Russia sees its membership in the body as an important symbol of its acceptance by the West.

8.   She saw the membership in her church, Our Lady of Charity, dwindle from several hundred families to only a dozen.

9.   The ministers said their countries saw membership in the alliance as an assurance of security and a return to their rightful place in Europe.

10.   But long-term, Chinese leaders see WTO membership as key to anchoring the economic reforms they have pursued for two decades.