ke out a year later. In April 2003, the Quartet (US, EU, UN, and
Russia) presented a roadmap to a final settlement of the conflict by
2005 based on reciprocal steps by the two parties leading to two
states, Israel and a democratic Palestine. The proposed date for a
permanent status agreement has been postponed indefinitely due to
violence and accusations that both sides have not followed through
on their commitments. Following Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT's
death in late 2004, Mahmud ABBAS was elected PA president in January
2005. A month later, Israel and the PA agreed to the Sharm el-Sheikh
Commitments in an effort to move the peace process forward. In
September 2005, Israel withdrew all its settlers and soldiers and
dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip and four
northern West Bank settlements. Nonetheless, Israel controls
maritime, airspace, and most access to the Gaza Strip. A November
2005 PA-Israeli agreement authorized the reopening of the Rafah
border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt under joint PA and
Egyptian control. In January 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement,
HAMAS, won control of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The
international community has refused to accept the HAMAS-led
government because it does not recognize Israel, will not renounce
violence, and refuses to honor previous peace agreements between
Israel and the PA. Since March 2006, President Abbas has had little
success negotiating with HAMAS to present a political platform
acceptable to the international community so as to lift the economic
siege on Palestinians. The PLC was unable to convene in late 2006 as
a result of Israel's detention of many HAMAS PLC members and
Israeli-imposed travel restrictions on other PLC members.

Western Sahara
Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of
Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of
the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A
guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's
sovereignty ended in a 1991 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized
referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed.

World
Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating
world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of
vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology,
from the first airplane flight at Ki