WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

state of affairs
    n 1: the general state of things; the combination of
         circumstances at a given time; "the present international
         situation is dangerous"; "wondered how such a state of
         affairs had come about"; "eternal truths will be neither
         true nor eternal unless they have fresh meaning for every
         new social situation"- Franklin D.Roosevelt [syn:
         situation, state of affairs]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

24 Moby Thesaurus words for "state of affairs":
   affairs, circumstances, concerns, condition of things, conditions,
   dealings, doings, goings-on, how it goes, how it is,
   how things are, how things stand, life, like it is,
   march of events, matters, proceedings, relations, run of things,
   status in quo, the status quo, the times, the world,
   what happens