Sentence:  We have staved off a war and , since our behavior has involved all these elements , we can only keep adding to our ritual without daring to abandon any part of it , since we have not the slightest notion which parts <WSD>are</WSD> effective . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)