The most striking impression about 2002 is that the world has become increasingly insecure. When two jetliners hijacked by suicide terrorists crashed into New York's World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, old-fashioned big-power games ended and a new struggle between civilized society and international terrorism began.
As this year draws to a close, the war on terror appears to be entering a new phase with the United States homing in on "rogue states." In the Middle East, Iraq is the target of a possible U.S. invasion. In the Far East, North Korea -- another member of U.S. President George W. Bush's declared "axis of evil" -- is rattling the nuclear saber.
The antiterror campaign, joined by Russia and China, has altered the world's geopolitical map. In particular, China, prime candidate to become the next superpower, has edged ever closer to the U.S. Symbolic of this was Beijing's support for America's post-9/11 retaliatory attacks on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers and al-Qaeda terrorists.