This Council Special Report decries the tragically slow global response to the unrest in Sudan's Darfur region, stating that it shows that the international community still lacks the capacity to deal effectively with humanitarian crises. Looking at Darfur in the context of lessons learned from Rwanda, the report recommends ways to end the Darfur crisis and avoid future ones.

Africa, mired in poverty, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and armed conflict, has rightfully occupied a prominent place in the G8’s agenda over the past several years. This report, written in anticipation of the G8’s June 2004 summit at Sea Island, Georgia, highlights the need for the G8 to maintain a strong partnership with Africa, even as the world’s attention turns increasingly to the Middle East.

The Bush administration’s $15 billion AIDS initiative has received much attention for its boldness and size. But, according to this indispensable Council Special Report, it will not succeed unless it is folded into a broader and longer-term commitment to developing basic health systems in affected countries. To successfully battle AIDS--one of the most pressing threats known to mankind--the effort must also go beyond health to address social and economic factors that drive the spread of the disease.

As a victim of terrorism and the strongest supporter of U.S. counterterrorism policy among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Philippines already plays a vital role in preserving American security. With anti-Americanism on the rise in South Korea and Japan, the United States may need to depend more on the Philippines to fulfill its objectives in Asia. This report assesses the political, economic, and strategic situation in the Philippines following the 2004 elections and recommends steps that the United States and the Philippines should take to strengthen their economic and military ties.

Georgia is strategically important to the United States in the war on terror and an indispensable transit point for energy supplies between Asia and Europe. Though the country’s November 2003 “revolution of roses” is the most positive event to have occurred in the countries of the former Soviet Union in more than a decade, Georgia is entering an unstable period of transition as its new government tries to promote national coherence among the country’s ethnic groups and takes steps to dismantle the corrupt power structure that thrived under former president Eduard Shevardnadze. This timely report, written by an expert on conflict prevention in the Caucasus, recommends steps the United States and the international community can to take to bolster President Mikhail Saakashvili as well as moves his government should make in the short and long term.