THE year 2003, which has just disappeared into the unfathomable vastness of time, witnessed events that are surely going to influence the

future of the world in a very perceptible way.

At home, there has virtually been no change in politics, a vitally important area, since restoration of democracy back in 1991. That was a great achievement, but how long shall we rest on its laurels without translating it into democratic institutionalisation based on constructive political culture? The AL and the BNP have seen in it from being in power and also from the opposition, but they have done nothing to improve the quality of politics. To top it all, the law and order situation has deteriorated; corruption has hogged the most negative headlines; and we have plummeted on the world competitiveness index.

Then, there have been those unfulfilled promises; separation of the judiciary from the executive still eludes us; and so does the creation of an independent anti-corruption commission and the Ombudsman office.

Despite the pall of gloom that politics of confrontation and lawlessness have spread, credit goes to the farmers and entrepreneurs for the GDP growth of 5 plus points. Their performance is the mainstay of our hopes for the future.

Regionally, the signs of thawing relations between India and Pakistan have been a major development towards the end of the year raising the hope for a lessening of tension in South Asia.

On the international scene, the US, and its principal ally Britain, chose to carry forward the war on terrorism in a way that amounted to arrogant display of military might. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled and he has been captured since, but the war in Iraq has not come to an end. The WMD myth got progressively demolished in the absence of credible evidence.

The lack of statesmanship and vision on the world stage was perhaps never felt so acutely as has been the case in recent times. President Bush didn't bother to heed the voices of dissent, which actually represented the world conscience. The US policy also denied the role that the UN should have been given in Iraq.

Clearly, the war on terrorism has not been won. And, if anything, terrorism persists in a more threatening form, nullifying whatever justification President Bush had for waging the war on Iraq.