"What we are seeing is a sense of insecurity or, perhaps you want to look at it from another side, looking for a sense of insurance policy, " said Rupert Hoogewerf, publisher of Hurun Report, told CNN in November.

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For a decade or more, families had felt a growing sense of economic insecurity.

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"On the other hand, there is this strong sense of patriotism and a bit of insecurity about our national identity, " she says.

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The ensuing sense of insecurity, plus a deep economic recession, has driven Colombians to seek refuge abroad in record numbers.

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This is an era of insecurity, both in a very real sense for a lot of people, economically.

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Only a handful of countries in eastern Europe were affected, but the sense of insecurity spread right across the continent.

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Mr Netanyahu is hammering away at the casualty figures (some 35 Israelis have died), and at the pervasive sense of personal insecurity that has cast the nation into a profound and palpable depression.

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