Editorial: The year of nature's reminders

This year will always be remembered as one in which nature placed humanity's abilities, ambitions and absurdities into sharp relief. From the aftermath of the Boxing Day tsunami, through the ravages of Hurricane Katrina to the devastation in earthquake-stricken Kashmir, this was a time of uneven struggle. Nature, not the ongoing terror inspired by al Qaeda, the increasing discomfort of the American forces in Iraq, or the accelerating emergence of China, was the dominant player in 2005.

The response to its power created some unexpected winners and losers. The reaction orchestrated by the United Nations to the damage wrought by the tsunami in Indonesia and Sri Lanka was widely considered a sizeable success. Aid was, in the main, delivered quickly and effectively. This raised the stocks of the UN, only a short time after its effectiveness as an arbiter of international affairs had been undermined by the Bush Administration's invasion of Iraq.

The White House, itself, fared far worse when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. The world looked on in disbelief as aid agencies in the most technologically advanced of nations failed to cope, despite early warning of the hurricane's approach and predictions of the likely impact of a deluge. Only belatedly did President George W. Bush impose himself and demand a better response.

Hurricane Katrina was just one of many errant weather events that occurred throughout the year. These led most people to take ever more note of the fears enunciated by the scientific community about global warming. Not President Bush, however. Towards the end of the year, at the Montreal summit on climate change, the United States remained divorced from the UN-led initiative based on the Kyoto Protocol.

If that issue was never likely to dent the President's standing in the eyes of the American people, the same did not apply to his lack of progress in gaining a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. As casualties mounted, Mr Bush proved himself a slow learner by insisting he would do it all again. Only in mid-December did a glimmer of hope emerge when Iraqis went to the polls to elect a government for the next four years. The Administration that is cobbled together in the next few weeks will either reconcile bitterly divided communities or be the catalyst for civil war and the disintegration of Iraq.

The hope lay in the fact that the Sunnis, the core of the insurgency, chose to engage in the democratic process for the first time. This opened a rift with the terrorists supporting the armed resistance, who declared the election "satanic". If the Sunnis are encouraged by their role in the new government, that division will widen. Should that occur, a fertile source of angst would be denied the terrorist networks arranged around al Qaeda. Support, real and potential, would wither further if Ariel Sharon's new party, having won Israel's forthcoming general election, honours its pledge to hasten a lasting peace with the Palestinians.

Yet Muslim fundamentalism extended its reach in 2005. Britain, the Bush Administration's main supporter in Iraq, suffered a day of horror when terrorists struck the London Underground. The shock was all the greater when it was revealed that the bombers and victims alike were British. Bali, a far easier target, was, again, singled out for attack. For Australians, the threat of terrorism crept ever closer.

The new year will begin with the threat of a bird flu pandemic. Humanity's efforts, again, are focused on damage limitation. Control, again, is an empty notion. As was the case in 2005, so, if the worst predictions are realised, may it be in 2006.