He has a reputation for honesty and an unbending refusal to countenance corruption or pork-barrel politics.
Although the Israelis say they would be willing to depart in exchange for security guarantees, they know that Syria would not countenance a negotiated withdrawal in the absence of a wider settlement including the Golan Heights.
No European policymaker seems willing to countenance a serious haircut on Greek debt yet, for fear that it undermines confidence elsewhere.
It refused to countenance a default by Greece, or even debt restructuring, for fear of market contagion.
For decades the jeweler didn't countenance anyone who couldn't afford a diamond the size of an ice cube.
So while it would be impossible for this writer to disagree with his thesis, his solution is a difficult to countenance.
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Yet Cardinal O'Malley's refusal to countenance the college's support for Prime Minister Kenny may be a sign that things are about to change.
He would now be prepared to countenance a less-than-final agreement that would leave Jerusalem in abeyance for the time being.
Nor could Ms Bhutto ultimately countenance a pact with the Islamists, under which Maulana Fazlur Rahman, a cleric known for his pro-Taliban, anti-American views, would have become prime minister.
But Mr Hollande will have to countenance reform all the same, because he needs a credible medium-term plan to pay for welfare spending without resorting to borrowing.
For his part, Mr Obama has made it clear that he would countenance war only if Iran were building a nuclear weapon, which his intelligence chiefs do not now think is the case.
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