Instead, the North drastically increased ties with China and continued with its nuclear tests and long-range rocket launches, the latest coming earlier this month.
Eager to promote itself as a global player and to take advantage of its rival Saudi Arabia's absence from the scene, Qatar's increased ties with Assad has served both states well.
When the Barcelona Process began in 1995 with the aim of increasing ties with countries to the south, the European Union and 14 Southern Mediterranean countries agreed to the "strengthening of democracy and respect for human rights".
The assault came a day after the Shabab, which have increasing ties with Al Qaeda, tried to attract international media attention by vowing to send fighters to help insurgents in Yemen.
The death sentence facing her prompted President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, who has had increasing ties with Iran, to offer the convicted woman a home in exile in Brazil, a gesture that Iranian authorities rejected.
Key questions facing the first couple in the coming term will be whether to push ahead with plans for a Chinese-built and -funded interoceanic canal, how to offset declining financial support from crisis-hit Venezuela, and whether a new US president will support congressional moves to punish Nicaragua for its allegedly undemocratic elections and increasing ties with Russia.
While US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stresses increased ties with Moscow, NATO blatantly thwarts reconciliation attempts.
He has made overtures toward increasing ties with Russia and China, vowed to kick out American military stationed in the Philippines and holds a longstanding personal grudge against the United States.
From 1994 until 2009, secondary education was offered in either French or English; because of the country's increasing ties with the East African Community and the Commonwealth, only the English syllabi are now offered.
From 1994 until 2009, secondary education was offered in either French or English; since 2009, due to the country's increasing ties with the East African Community and the Commonwealth of Nations, English has been the sole language of instruction in public schools from primary school grade 4 onward.
