This week, for the first time since he became president, Mr Menem has the look of a man who is no longer in full control of his destiny.

ECONOMIST: Menem forswears a third term, for 1999 anyway | The

In an incident that left neighbors in a Glendale, California, neighborhood surprised but relieved that no one was hurt, a man lost control of his black Cadillac as he drove down his steep driveway Saturday evening.

CNN: Man headed to dinner drives car on to neighbor's roof

It was a subdued but visible show of U.S. influence and power in a time and a place of unexpected sandstorms and ferocious revolutions, where no man, no nation, has full control over the course of history.

CNN: In Mideast, Obama knocks it out of the park

One man's loss of control inspired the other's, and we are no better for anything either of them did.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia