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This is the second article in a series examining how the Bush Administration's War on terror has transformed politics, reshuffled alliances and altered the dynamics of local conflicts around the world. A major casualty in President Bush's "war on terrorism" has been the good will of moderate Muslims toward the United States. Indonesians criticize Bush's conflation of Arab terrorism with Islam, and complain that his policies demonstrate a double standard, chief among the examples being the US failure to respond to human rights abuses against Palestinians by Israel and visa policies that make it extremely difficult for Indonesians, no matter what their religion, to enter the United States. Rizal Ramli and other political analysts worry about the negative impact of Bush's war on terrorism on the political landscape in Indonesia. Heading a project to trace Indonesian terrorism and its roots, one Indonesian comments that although there are dangerous terrorists in Indonesia, many Indonesian Muslims still do not believe that Jemaah Islamiah (JI), an alliance of local groups, was responsible for acts including the Bali bombs in 2002 and the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta this past August.

This article presents the author's views on the political situation in Afghanistan. At the conference of international donors in Tokyo the representatives responded with pledges totaling more than $4.7 billion, over time spans ranging from a year to the next three to five years, after Hamid Karzai, leader of the interim government in Afghanistan presented his case before them. The war, now winding down, that resulted in the ouster of the Taliban regime and the smashing of Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan can be called a success in terms of the US-led coalition's initial goals, although Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar have eluded capture. The tempest of high-tech ordnance loosed on the land drove thousands of Afghans from their homes, and many of them languish in refugee camps on the brink of starvation.

This article reports that as part of a new arts education program, Indonesian students get a chance to learn about their country's diverse arts, like this dance from Aceh in northern Sumatra. Kayutanam, Indonesia— late last August&,mdash; four months before a devastating tsunami took the lives of more than 100,000 people in Aceh, the northernmost province of Sumatra,102 teachers gathered in the foothills of West Sumatra, two hours' drive from the coast. They had come to explore a new way of teaching the arts that aims to build appreciation among Indonesia's 43 million students for their nation's rich cultural legacy.

A traditional dividing line in South America is uniting people from across national boundaries to save the land and people of the Pantanal. At the Taiam&aatilde; Research Station, in a remote part of this Brazilian state, a five-foot jabiru stork strolls down the grassy landing strip, always a few paces ahead of curious visitors. The Taiam&aatilde; Reserve lies in the heart of the Pantanal, the world's largest tropical wetland system. Rios Vivos, an international coalition of some 300 groups in South America, Europe and the United States, has led a long campaign to save the region's wetlands and its people, so for now the animals at Taiam&aatilde; Reserve and the scientists who study them are safe.

Armed militias had forced most journalists to flee from East Timor by September 7, the day then-President B.J. Habibie of Indonesia declared martial law for the region. But reports out of Dili were still airing on Radio 68H, a loose affiliation of radio stations throughout Indonesia. Their reports were being produced in Jakarta and distributed again on the Web to stations across the archipelago, from Aceh at the western tip of Sumatra to Kupang in West Timor. Radio 68H has been an overnight success. Stories on politics and the economy, along with interviews and editorials, are posted on the Radio 68H Web site three times a day, in time for member stations to broadcast them on the noon, evening and late-night news.