Sentence:  But by week 's end the Laotian cry of invasion was read as an exaggeration ( see Foreign News ) , and the U. S. was agreeing with its cautious British and French allies that a neutralist - rather than a pro-Western - government might <WSD>be</WSD> best for Laos . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)