WITH his hand placed on a family bible, George W Bush began his second term as US President with grand words about liberty and peace, but with not a mention of the war which has polarised opinion around the world.

And as he embarks on the next leg of his presidential journey, George W Bush does so with the lowest overall approval ratings of any returning president since Dwight Eisenhower in 1957.

With the war in Iraq increasingly unpopular, he has become a president who has created deep divisions both at home and abroad.

And he is left with a choice of direction: whether to take a more moderate approach, or whether to reach out to his more ideologically committed supporters.

With speculation that America may be preparing to target Iran, even before the mess in Iraq is sorted out, the world is worried about President Bush. It fears that his foreign policy will create more global division. It simply doesn't trust him.

We hope that his second term will be remembered for a more moderate, considered approach. We hope he shows that he has learned from the experience and mistakes of his first four years, and sees that a multilateral approach is the only way to peace.

Perhaps there were signs of a softening when he said America did not want to impose its "own style of government on the unwilling".

We hope it is a signal that he is wiser for the four years that have gone before. But none of us can be confident that George W Bush will choose the right path.