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Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential election, a response to U.S. pressure, was a false start for reform. Formal pluralism has never seriously limited the dominance of President Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP); extension to the presidential level is a token so long as the opposition is too weak to produce plausible candidates.

Although the dangers are evident, the international community continues to support General Pervez Musharraf because of his perceived cooperation in the war on terror, ignoring unconstitutional constraints on the civilian opposition.

Crisis Group and other NGOs call on U.S. Secretary of State Rice to designate Turkmenistan as a "country of particular concern".

Instead of healing the growing divisions between Iraq's three principal communities – Shiites, Kurds and Sunni Arabs – a rushed constitutional process has deepened rifts and hardened feelings.

After drifting toward crisis for much of 2004, the outlook for stability across the Taiwan Strait has improved.

From Saudi Arabia's establishment in 1932, its minority Shiite population has been subject to discrimination and sectarian incitement. Beginning in the early 1990s, with then Crown Prince Abdullah's active support, the government took steps to improve inter-sectarian relations.