The World Today

Successes like the capture of Saddam Hussein are morale boosters for security forces in Iraq and may help to ensure victory for President George Bush in his re-election bid.

As evidence of Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction and pre-war ties to terrorism remains elusive, Washington and London increasingly point to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s brutal government to justify the invasion.

The sudden departure of Georgian President Edvard Shevardnadze and his replacement by Mikheil Saakashvili in the January 4 election have produced speculation that a similar process of democratic transformation may take place elsewhere in the former Soviet region. There is concern too over the potential for growing strategic tension between the great powers, given Russia’s worries about loss of influence in the southern Caucasus and accelerating energy sector development there.

President and prime minister are at loggerheads and the peace process, so carefully nurtured by Norway, is at a crossroads. There are worries that Sri Lanka’s costly civil war could resume, but concern too that another Oslo-inspired agreement might be going badly wrong.

The presidential election in Taiwan planned for next month is proving to be anything other than a regular exercise of democracy. Current President Chen Shui-bian’s policies have angered Beijing and drawn a public reprimand from Washington.

As the presidential election approaches, verbal war across the Taiwan Strait increasingly dominates the headlines. But beneath the noise of battle, China and Taiwan are quietly conducting business as usual.