noun. Rotation; specifically, in diplomacy, a practice in accordance with which several states, in order to preserve the equality between them, take each in turn the first place, as, for example, in the signing of treaties.

noun. A usage, among diplomats, of rotation in precedence among representatives of equal rank, sometimes determined by lot and at other times in regular order. The practice obtains in the signing of treaties and conventions between nations.

"California should be permitted to try several alternat ives it has in the works, and freeing prisoners should be a " remedy of last resort, " he said."