World Affairs Annual: 2002-2003.

• Position: Special

If someone had asked you a year ago to locate Afghanistan on a map, could you have found it? Probably not. But today, that Central Asian country is at the forefront of the American war on terrorism.

In the age of the Internet, supersonic jets, global trade, satellite communications, and the unfortunate reality of global terrorism, far-flung parts of the world are becoming ever more linked. There's hardly any event occurring anywhere on the planet today that doesn't have some impact on our lives in the U.S. The earth has become such a small, communal place that we can no longer afford to ignore any region's problems or write off any country.

That's where The New York Times Upfront World Affairs Annual comes in. Here, you'll find the latest available information on the globe, with updated maps and vital statistics on every country. Each map is accompanied by a news summary encapsulating the year's events in that part of the world. We hope you'll save this issue for year-round reference, and that it inspires your curiosity to find out more about the people and cultures that share your planet.

Europe

A year ago, Europe seemed poised for great strides forward. In January, most Europeans began using a new, unified currency, the euro, and the European Union (EU) was considering expanding its membership to several Eastern European countries. These were both signs of growing unity among nations that had once been bitter foes. But the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks overshadowed much of the EU's progress and revealed that Europe was still plagued by many internal tensions.

With their countries' economies limping, and increasing worries about a rising tide of immigrants, European voters this year handed liberal governments a series of defeats across the continent. Dutch voters elected a new government led by a conservative party. In several other European countries, extreme far-right parties continued to support more mainstream governments. And under increasing pressure from the anti-immigrant extreme far-right, the Italian government enacted tougher immigration laws.

But the swing to the right was not universal. French voters soundly defeated an extreme-right candidate in the early rounds of voting for president. Swedish voters re-elected the ruling liberal party, while in Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, a liberal who had criticized the Bush administration's push to attack Iraq, narrowly withstood a conservative challenge in national elections.

Even as other European governments questioned many of Washington's moves in the war on terror, Britain maintained its role as America's staunchest ally. Largely alone among European leaders, Prime Minister Tony Blair stood...