TOKYO -- The world in 2014 experienced a series of conflicts that shook up the existing international order. Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula. China turned up the volume of its saber rattling toward its neighbors around the East and South China seas. And the extremist Islamic State group took more territory in Iraq and Syria.
The new year will likely see more erosion of the old world order. In 12 months, it should be clear that the globe has split into three blocs.
