Liberia held elections in October 2005, with a presidential runoff in November, a key step in a peace-building process following its second civil war in a decade. The war pitted the forces of Charles Taylor, elected president in 1997 after Liberia's first civil war, against two armed anti-Taylor rebel groups. The war also destabilised neighbouring states, which accepted Liberian refugees and, in some cases, hosted anti-Taylor forces and became targets of the Taylor regime. This book examines developments in Liberia.