BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- The year 2006 ends with several issues causing widespread concerns against a backdrop of increasing multilateralism and cooperation. Most of the world is stable, but there are hot-spots, particularly in the Middle East region.

    SOURCES OF CONCERN

    The major concerns include military expansion of the world's big powers, NATO's eastward enlargement, the nuclear standoff, conflicts in the Middle East and terrorism.

    The military expansion is best represented by the United States, currently the sole super power, with its old-fashioned goal of policing the world.

    While increasing spending on developing the world's most sophisticated weapons and deploying the disputed space-based missile defense system, Washington is reinforcing its military presence in the Pacific region and strengthening its alliance with Japan, apparently in a bid to curb the rise of any countries in the region which it sees as a threat.

    NATO, the U.S.-led military alliance, continues its eastward enlargement in an attempt to seek "global partnerships" in the Asia-Pacific region. There are fears this could bring turbulence as NATO's march east has caused rifts in many ex-Soviet states.

    The nuclear issue is another major uncertainty and posed a challenge to the international non-proliferation mechanism.

    In December, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution imposing limited sanctions on Iran, which had rejected a previous UN resolution urging Tehran to suspend its controversial uranium enrichment it had resumed early in the year.

    Also in December, the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue ended up with little tangible progress.

    The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1718 slapping sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) after Pyongyang announced its first nuclear test in October.

    Regional conflicts are another source of concern.

    The worst hit is the Middle East region, where bloodshed continues between the Palestinians and Israel with the peace process stalled.

    Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerillas fought a 34-day war which started on July 12, when two Israeli soldiers were abducted by the Shiite group. The conflict left thousands of people dead and injured, and displaced a population of almost one million.

    Iraq is on the brink of civil war as the U.S.-led forces prove unable to contain the insurgency and spiraling sectarian violence between the country's Shiites and Sunnis. The situation there is turning into a Vietnam War-style quagmire as nearly 3,000 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq since Washington launched the invasion in March 2003.

    Big challenges also come from terrorism, separatism, extremism, organized crime, natural disasters and environmental hazards.