AND so, dear reader, we find ourselves once more at the exit door of another year. Many of us, no doubt, will tonight be singing the words at the top of the page, in that now famous ode to a new year by the celebrated Scottish bard, Robbie Burns. And, as is customary on these occasions, we will take stock of the past 12 months.

Perhaps the most unexpected — and most welcome — event, was what the pundits immediately dubbed the Arab Spring. A brushfire of protests whisked across Tunisia after a young man who had set himself on fire in frustration at the casual treatment by government bureaucrats died in hospital.

Remarkably, the strong arms of the state restrained themselves from attacking the protesters and soon the president, his family and his influential cronies decamped to more welcoming surroundings. Political parties organised themselves, took part in an election and got on with the business of co-operating with each other in the job of concocting a new democratic constitution.

In nearby Egypt, the largest and most influential country in the Arab world, protesters poured into the streets and public squares in the teeming capital, Cairo, and many other cities and towns. In the forefront was the younger generation — linked by the modern channels of Twitter, Facebook and other electronic ties — who eventually forced President Hosni Mubarak and his corrupt cronies to quit office. For a while things looked promising, as the army officers who controlled things and some old-line politicians got together to prepare for constitutional change.

Then, as the year’s end approached, and they held an election, old habits reared their heads. People flocked to the squares again to demand real change and the army fell back into its old ways. In the last little while the world saw pictures of soldiers using metal poles to viciously club demonstrators — many of them young women — and the prospects for the coming year once again look bleak.

It seems more promising in Egypt’s neighbour, Libya, where the populace finally rose up against their totally quirky leader, Colonel Muammar Gadhafi. He retaliated viciously against those who dared oppose his regime, but their resolve, along with a carefully managed campaign by the NATO alliance, gradually eroded Gadhafi’s forces and ended with his degrading death and the promise of a brighter future for Libyans.

Another important Arab nation is right now in the throes of a major upheaval. After decades of cowering under the barrels of the army’s guns, the treads of its tanks and its vicious secret police, Syrians are revolting against the chokehold of the al-Assad family and its hangers-on. Week after week, we have witnessed, via smuggled-out video and reports gathered under extremely dangerous conditions, scenes of naked violence by the army against its own citizens.

After enormous external pressure, including by the clubby old Arab league, Syria finally allowed observers in to witness what’s going on. But the authorities have merely moved their nefarious actions out of sight and continue with the brutality. In the next 12 months we could observe a dramatic upheaval in this ancient land.

The rest of the Arab world, including the rich states along the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia, have not escaped the upheavals. What has kept them relatively quiet is their enormous oil wealth, but once ideas of liberty and progress spring up they generally prove very hardy, and won’t be going away easily.

On the other side of the world, it was the awesome power of nature that literally rocked Japan. An extremely powerful earthquake shook the northeastern portion of the main island, Honshu. Japan is accustomed to such phenomena, but what made matters horrendous was that the quake began under the ocean floor some distance offshore, and sent a huge wall of water several kilometres inland.

The water took out whole towns, swathes of agricultural land and — most chillingly — nuclear power stations hugging the shoreline. Although one of the stations actually suffered a meltdown, the almost superhuman efforts of nuclear workers have managed to contain what could have been a catastrophe of vastly greater proportions. Even so, there are places which will be off limits way into the future.

The earthquake and tsunami have also had an enormous effect on numerous industrial plants supplying both the components and finished products which make up a huge proportion of Japan’s exports and supply chain for its factories overseas. A flood late in the year had a similar effect on the industrial output of a south Asian giant in the making — Thailand. Not to forget the considerable cost in human lives.

We are also mindful of the seismic activity of another kind — one whose after-shocks are still being felt everywhere. The economic weakness which became evident on Wall Street three years ago continued defying the efforts of the world’s financial leaders who are in an almost constant whirlwind of meetings. In Washington, the politicians played a childish and dangerous game with their national borrowing ceiling and budget process. Across the Atlantic, policy-makers, economists and bankers grappled with the serious problems facing the countries of the Euro-zone.

Greece teetered on the brink of disaster; Italy was forced to dump its dissolute prime minister and replace him with a dour bureaucrat; the Spanish, Irish and Portuguese wrung their hands in despair; while the French and Germans bobbed and weaved to try to get out of footing the bill.

Some prominent people left the scene, including one who towered over our modern technological age. Steve Jobs co-founded the Apple computer empire; was ousted and worked his way back in; steered the company to greater and greater heights and embedded itself in our lives with its iPhones, iTunes, iPods, iTablets and various iWhat-nots. Just this month we heard of the death of a national hero — Vaclav Havel, who led the Velvet Revolution against Soviet hegemony in Czechoslovakia — and the demise of one of the weirdest national leaders to be found anywhere.

Three days ago, North Korea bid farewell to Kim Jong-Il, the bizarre dictator of the tightest-shut dictatorship anywhere. His designated successor is his almost unknown son, Kim Jong-Un, who was seen everywhere during the drawn-out funeral ceremonies. Outside observers will have a full-time job keeping on top of developments.

And this country participated in what would normally be a civic duty and privilege, but on this occasion was something of a nuisance because of when it happened. People who were focused on the Christmas festivities had to tolerate electioneering amidst all the partying and church-going, but can be thankful for the relative lack of violence and nastiness.

The new, young prime minister, installed a mere couple of months ago, put up a brave front, but the electorate thought otherwise, and gave Portia Simpson Miller and her PNP another shot at the leadership of the country. But Andrew Holness is young and still has a political future. Sister P didn’t promise very much as she revelled in victory on Thursday night. But with the crushing weight of the IMF on the country’s finances, the severe structural problems and the gloomy international financial scene, she has very little scope for manoeuvre.

While holding an election smack in the middle of the Christmas-New Year’s festivities annoyed many people, at least it severely curtailed campaigning. What I found particularly exasperating about it was, in a country with substantial problems — where the major portion of the annual budget goes to service the national debt; where children go to school under inadequate and undesirable circumstances; where the infra-structure is in abysmal condition and where social inequality and underdevelopment prevail, a major point of contention was an antiquated law against buggery!

Anyway… welcome a new year, joyously and safely.