The aftermath of a bi-polar world will very likely be called "the transitional dark times" in the future. Some regions in the world have taken advantage of the new multi-polar, global world. Latin American countries headed by Brazil have definitely opted for a more stable and democratic framework. East Asian countries have restructured their economies, despite the fact that their regimes hardly qualify as democracies. But their legitimacy stems from the fact that their economies deliver.The former communist countries of Europe have been mostly salvaged by the EU. After having seen the Yugoslavian tragedy, the EU decided to lower its conditions for membership and integrated almost the totality of Europe's former communist states, durably altering the functioning of the EU. Still, it is obviously a very courageous step and its positive effects very largely outweigh the problems it has created.The problem has been the Soviet system itself. The "sister republics" have either left the remaining system of the USSR for membership of the EU (like the Baltic Republics), or have drawn closer to a Western alliance like Georgia. The Turkic-speaking Central Asian republics have kept a very Soviet-style one-man, one-party regime, and in exchange for their allegiance to the Russian Federation, they enjoy a stability mainly provided by Russian support. There have been outbursts of violence within Russia itself, mainly in Chechnya, but they have been bluntly and violently suppressed. In a nutshell, the aftermath of the Soviet era did not bring any real democratic changes within these countries.The biggest and most unexpected social and popular uprising started in Tunisia - the Arab Spring - raising hopes that the immovable authoritarian Arab regimes were at last being replaced by participative systems. That was without taking into consideration the lack of preparation of opposition movements and the interests vested in the region by states like Russia and Iran. The Arab awakening has turned in a matter of a few years into a nightmare. Egypt has seen three uprisings, a coup and a total return to square one. Yemen is again divided and witnessing bloodshed. There is no more Syria, Iraq is divided into three and Libya into two belligerent parts.The U.S. administration wanted to stay as far as possible from intervening in this series of new conflicts, mainly because of the dreadful Iraq war waged by the neo-con administration of President George W. Bush. Without the guidance of the U.S, the EU has proved to be incapable of brokering a solution or of envisaging any militarily-supported humanitarian operation.The situation has become untenable at the same time in the Middle East and Ukraine. For Ukraine, France and Germany have been chosen to represent the "Western world," which is a first for Germany since the end of World War II, and they are not doing a bad job. For the Syrian tragedy and the Middle East, there is obviously a great need to see the U.S. administration become more thoroughly involved. The recent NATO summit held in Antalya and the Gulf Cooperation Council Summit held at Camp David are giving strong signals of a concerted and efficient U.S. initiative in the region. Will this give any significant results in the short term? Nothing is less certain, but there is definitely a need to see the democratic bloc of countries doing something, otherwise the nefarious effects of this bloody turmoil will continue to haunt spirits and societies for years to come.