A stark choice, at first blush.
Malaysia's crisis-ridden national carmaker faces a stark choice.
Banks in this situation face a stark choice: foreclose on the loan and trigger a fire sale, or hang on in the hope that the market will improve.
The US pressure rose yesterday when John Kerry offered a stark choice: agree an inspection regime or risk the prospects of getting a crucial climate change law through the Senate.
The lesson was that, given a stark choice, clear message and efforts to engage a broad sweep of society, which the separatist "Yes" side had shown, Britain's jaded democracy can be reinvigorated.
