The second pillar of the Saudi state, its stern Wahhabist clerics, is also weaker than it was.

ECONOMIST: Saudi Arabia

It also threatens the second pillar of the European project: the promise that European unity will deliver prosperity.

ECONOMIST: The pros and cons of becoming a superpower

Mr. Karzai remains suspicious, too, of the second main pillar of the American war plan: the creation of a 352, 000-strong Afghan army and police force.

WSJ: Hamid Karzai: Our Man in Kabul?

President Karzai when he started his second term in office, beginning with his inaugural speech, as he said at the London conference, he emphasized that it would be a pillar of his second term in office.

WHITEHOUSE: 5/10/10: White House Press Briefing

His second book, The City and the Pillar, tackled homosexuality, making it highly controversial at the time.

BBC: US author Gore Vidal dies aged 86