The World Today: May 2002: May 2002

Israel is a nation that needs to be saved from itself. Its war against the Palestinians has brought not only unspeakable horrors to Palestinian civilians but death and destruction to Israeli citizens as well. The damage to the institutions of the Palestinian Authority and the isolation of its president, Yasser Arafat, have strengthened militancy and radicalised Palestinian public opinion.

A growing tide of protest has swept across the Arab world at western policies towards Israel and the Palestinians. Far from winning hearts and minds in the aftermath of the attacks on America last September, the battle has been lost. This dangerous gulf between the two views is probably wider than for half a century.

The term homeland security was neither well understood nor commonly accepted in the United States prior to the attacks of September 11. It was widely reported that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld disliked it. That all changed one Tuesday morning. Although the debate continues over precise definitions, the term itself is now commonly used by leaders in the executive and legislative branches of government and by the American press and public.

Washington is vilified for acting alone on a range of issues. Europe is being asked to do more on defence. This peevish debate risks weakening NATO just at the moment it should be agreeing to create a stronger alliance to fight terrorism.

May is an important month for Russia. Its new partnership with NATO is to be decided and a Moscow summit is the deadline for a new Russian arms deal. But is America and its allies in danger of taking President Vladamir Putin for granted? His aim is to turn Russia westwards – if he fails to take most of his people with him, the consequences could be critical.

East Timor becomes independent at midnight on May 19 and will now be known as Timor Lorosa’e. This ends one of the most tragic sagas in the history of colonialism. But the new country will wake up to many problems on May 20.