American election has finally come to an end, President George W. Bush has at last fulfilled his dream of re-election, but his winning was none too easy. This is, without doubt, an arduous victory, what is now placed before him is difficulty after triumph.

First of all, the Iraq war and the present presidential election have plunged US society into the gravest division since the Vietnam War. Supporters of the two parties (Democratic and Republican) have never been in so distinct difference as waters of the Jinghe and Weihe rivers--this was manifested as a dividing line between the conservatives and the liberal, between the Whites and the coloreds, and urban voters and rural voters; antagonism of a main form appeared in the same race, the same group and even in the same family. Under the circumstance of the sharply divided "border of the two opposing powers", the president-elect is undoubtedly faced with the arduous task of how to reunite all the voters. While congratulating Bush on his success, Kerry reminded him of the fact that the US society is now seriously divided politically and so he must do something about that. In his speech Bush also had to face the reality when he said that he would, during his new term of office, try his best to unite all American public, so as to build a more powerful United States. However, for worldly affairs, it is easier said than done. Although similar situations appeared in US election four years ago, the "September 11, 2001" terrorist attack caused the Americans to quickly cast aside their differences and unite, with common hatred against the enemy, under the banner of patriotism; taking advantage of this, Bush also jumped from a president in a weak position to a president taking the upper hand. But today, it will be hard for Bush in the short term to find an opportunity to once again hold the whole nation together. What's more, he has lost his moral superiority, for instance, US troops deeply bogged down in Iraq cannot absolve themselves completely from there, or if civil war breaks out in Iraq, the United States may experience greater split nationwide, and Bush may possibly follow the footsteps of President Johnson during the period of the Vietnam War.

Whether the Iraqi situation can be reversed or not will be another severe test to Bush during his second term of office. Bush pins his hope on the Iraqi election to be held in late January next year, but the current situation there is by no means optimistic: incidents of attack are growing with intensity everyday, terrorist bombings are occurring one after another, successive kidnappings of hostages give people greater headache. Since the conclusion of major warfare in May last year, the number of hostages from various countries who were abducted has exceeded 160 people, 33 of whom have been beheaded. This situation has greatly shaken people's confidence in the reconstruction of Iraq, as a result, foreign assistance can hardly be in place, and foreign companies are withdrawing one after another.

How to iron out differences between the United States and Europe as quickly as possible is another major challenge to Bush. To solve the Iraqi issue, Bush badly needs two-faceted support to be provided by the international community, especially by "old-brand European" countries: one is the dispatch of troops, second is contribution of money. Practice of the Iraq war in the past year and a half shows that it is unwise to rely merely on temporary "volunteers alliance" and other unilateral tactics to cast aside the United Nations and divide and rule Europe. Bush's reelection has provided an opportunity for the United States and Europe to throw away past grievances and to shake hands and become reconciled, but it may take a considerably long period of time to completely dispel European people's psychology of disliking the United States.

Another arduous task facing the Bush administration is to restart the Middle East peace process. Over the past two years, in order to ingratiate Jewish voters, Bush has consistently taken a laissez-faire attitude toward the Sharon administration's tough policy and even has given it endorsement. After he was reelected, whether or not Bush can be bold and resolute in returning to his role as a neutral mediator is a big test to his political daring and resourcefulness. If the Palestine-Israel problem cannot be justly solved, there will hardly be a satisfactory result for either global anti-terrorism or the Iraqi situation.

In addition, how to solve the Korean Peninsular and Iranian nuclear issue peacefully through consultations is a knotty issue of test to the Bush administration's foreign policy.

Nevertheless, a new term of office, after all, indicates a new starting-point, the rolling in of congratulation messages from heads of government of various countries indicates that countries the world over place their respective expectations on Bush's new term of office. Whether these expectations can be met depends on whether President Bush continues as he did in the past to go down the road of unilateralism, or to mend his ways and come back to the road of multilateralism at an early date.

This article written by Li Xuejiang was carried on page 3 of People's Daily on November 5, 2004, and translated by People's Daily Online