Meanwhile the other possibility, Bavarian premier and arch-conservative Edmund Stoiber, appears uneasy about running.

BBC: Ex-CDU head off the hook

It is hard to see his arch-conservative successor doing better in liberal Europe.

ECONOMIST: In John Paul's footsteps | The

Like Saudi Arabia, Qatar follows Wahhabism, an arch-conservative branch of Sunni Islam.

ECONOMIST: The rise of Qatar

The Afghan president, his aides and foreign diplomats say, was fundamentally opposed to the counterinsurgency strategy that pushed American troops deep into remote, arch-conservative Afghan countryside.

WSJ: Hamid Karzai: Our Man in Kabul?

The Okies worked on farms in the Central Valley, then became arch-conservative, red-state farmers themselves in a state that has otherwise gone Democratic blue in recent years.

ECONOMIST: California is now divided more east-west than north-south

While Pope Benedict has often been described as an arch-conservative because of his past role as the top enforcer of church doctrine, he made some reformist moves.

WSJ: Contenders in Line to be Pope

There are now 11 pages of amendments to be put at Friday's report stage, and, ominously, many of them bear the name of the arch-terminator of private members' bills, the Conservative Christopher Chope.

BBC: Is night falling on Daylight Saving Bill?