The celebrations were shortlived, however, and Mr Chavez won re-election by a resounding margin last month, his popularity driven by anti-US rhetoric and his use of huge oil revenues to spread wealth. His recent actions, however, have triggered alarm bells. He has denied a licence to a TV station critical of his policies and asked Congress for permission to rule by decree for a year, saying he means to amend the constitution to cement "21st century socialism" in Venezuela and make his new term of office open-ended

UKRAINE 3The jubilation following Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution swiftly turned to bitter disappointment as the high hopes of Ukraine's reformist President Viktor Yushchenko were dashed amid political infighting, allegations of corruption, rising prices and sluggish economic growth. Yushchenko's bitter rival, the pro-Moscow Viktor Yanukovych, now holds the post of Prime Minister in a motley coalition of former political enemies. This week, parliament voted to reduce Yushchenko's powers

LEBANON 4In 2005 the West cheered the so-called Cedar Revolution, when mass protests following the assassination of former Prime Minster Rafiq Hariri forced a retreat of Syria from Lebanon and the formation of a new government under Fouad Siniora. But weakened by last summer's war with Israel, the Siniora government - and some say democracy itself - is under siege as Hizbollah stages mass demonstrations in Beirut demanding greater representation. Iran and Syria - both accused of backing Hizbollah with funds and arms - are reexerting influence in Lebanon to the point where its sovereignty might one day be threatened

IRAQ 5By the end of 2005, Iraq had forged a new constitution and held elections in which all political and ethnic groups participated. However, today the US-led experiment has dissolved into civil war, proving the old maxim that without security, democracy cannot take root. Sunni insurgents, elements of al-Qa'ida and Shia militias, including the Mahdi Army of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, continue to wreak bloody havoc.

Widespread scepticism has greeted President Bush's decision to opt for a military "surge" to tamp down violence in Baghdad with 21,500 extra soldiers, as well as the pledge of the enfeebled Maliki government to crack down on Shia fighters

AFGHANISTAN 6After the military ousting of the Taliban regime in 2002, Hamid Karzai became the first-ever democratically elected president in November 2004 with 55.4 per cent of the vote. Today, however, his government is under siege, weakened by growing corruption, by Karzai's willingness to do deals with ethnic warlords, by a burgeoning heroin trade and by a resurgence of the Taliban and other ethnic groups. Karzai faces a likely military assault by the Taliban this spring, led by Mullah Omar. In spite of his vulnerability and the reemergence of the Taliban, western nations have failed sufficiently to bolster Nato troops

EGYPT 7President Hosni Mubarak has failed to fulfil promises of democratic reform, jailing prominent opposition leader Ayman Nour and arresting 1,000 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood over the past year. The Muslim Brotherhood was banned from running under the party banner in the 2005 elections, which were marred by violence, but its supporters made big gains. The US has lifted pressure on Mubarak to pursue multi-party democracy amid expectations that Muslim Brotherhood will win power in a free and fair vote

ETHIOPIA 8Once regarded as the good news story of the Horn of Africa, democratic rights have been under sharp attack since bitterly contested elections in 2005.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, a Blair ally, has been criticised by the UN for the "declining" rights situation and has come under fire from foreign diplomats for a heavy-handed response to demonstrations. Opposition leaders and journalists were jailed, and 80 people were killed last year, after protests accusing the government of election fraud turned violent

FIJI Fiji, with its long history of coups, has once more seen its democratic institutions overthrown by the military. In December, Fiji's army seized control in the fourth coup since 1987, after a political dispute with the government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase.

Although executive authority has been reinstated, the military remains firmly in charge as democratic and ethnic instability continues to plague this small Pacific nation

THAILAND Thailand's political system was thrown into turmoil last year after a military coup replaced the government of Thaksin Shinawatra with martial law.

Although Thailand has a long history of coups - 17 between 1932 and 1991 - the country had been going through one of the longest uninterrupted periods of democratic government and until recently was seen as one of Asia's leading democracies. Although the government promised to restore democracy swiftly, there are no sign of new elections and crackdowns on criticism continue

CHINA The world's fourth largest economy may have embraced Western-style capitalism wholeheartedly in recent years, but it remains a tightly ruled Communist state which brooks little popular opposition. The authorities continue to crack down on any signs of dissent and democracy activists are regularly sent to labour camps. China also has the world's highest number of journalists imprisoned and is thought to have executed at least 1,770 people in 2006

RUSSIA 9Russia has dropped all pretence of forging a Western-style democracy as it pursues its "sovereign" democracy, which, the Kremlin says, takes the country's specific history into account.

Parliamentary elections are scheduled this year, and a presidential vote next year, in which President Vladimir Putin is constitutionally barred from taking part. In the meantime, freedoms have been curbed and fake opposition parties are springing up under the dominant party umbrella. Parliament is widely seen as an instrument of the Kremlin