Four more years

So it is that George Bush has been re-elected president. By some strange quirk of co-incidence, his re-election news yesterday brought with it a spate of other leadership changes all across the world. Somalia now has a new prime minister. The president of the United Arab Emirates passed away overnight on Tuesday and was succeeded by his son yesterday. Hamid Karzai became formally the head of Afghanistan's first post-Taliban democratically elected government. Uruguay went to the polls a day earlier than the United States did and chose a left-leaning cancer specialist as the next president. Stretching the timeframe larger, Australia's John Howard won a convincing re-election and Venezuela's Chavez survived a referendum on his government's future not more than a couple of weeks ago.

Through this year, four large democracies -- each in a different continent -- went to the polls. India and Spain opted for centre-left coalitions while the United States and Australia went the other way though Spain's surprise choice may have had to do with the Madrid bomb explosions. I find this symmetry immensely fascinating -- right-wing conservative ideology, tailormade to each country's requirements, is on the ascendancy in the United States and Australia while in recession in India and Spain. I have not the faintest idea if there is any connection at all.

Somalia gets a new PM

Son succeeds late father as UAE president

Karzai wins Afghan presidency

Uruguay's new president, left-leaning

Final days of US campaign in pictures

April 2004

January 2004 - March 2004

October 2003 - January 2004

July 2003 - October 2003

May 2003 - June 2003

April 2003

January 2003 - April 2003

2002

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