sine qua non

In fact, the history of whaling on its own disproves the central point of “The Killing Age,” that guns were a sine qua non for the making of the modern world.

“But now speed and maneuverability are the sine qua non.”

The photo-op had supplanted policy as the sine qua non of political discourse.

The core of the Jan. 6 case is a breathtaking effort to exhort supporters to commit an insurrection and prevent the peaceful transfer of power, the sine qua non of a democracy.

What I did in the meantime — because I knew that I had to be there and eat the food, and know the people, and that was sine qua non.