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Kyrgyzstan’s society has become more mature since independence but its government more authoritarian.

The target of disbanding the paramilitary United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) by the end of 2005, set when the government of President Alvaro Uribe signed the Ralito I accord with the far-right group nearly a year ago, remains problematic.

While Macedonia has had a reasonably good year, the survival of the state in its present form -- a key element of stability in the fragile Western Balkans -- is still not completely assured.

This is the third of a series of briefings and reports on Islamism in North Africa. The first provided general background on the range and diversity of Islamic activism in the region, and subsequent papers examine with respect to particular states, the outlook and strategies of the main Islamist movements and organisations, their relations with the state and each other and how they have evolved. The analysis focuses on the relationship between Islamic activism and violence, especially but not only terrorism and the problem of political reform in general and democratisation in particular.