The eyes of the world will be on Sydney next month, and as that's where I am at the moment, I can tell you we are expecting the city to be under siege.

The government is erecting a 5-km-long, 2.8-meter-high "rabble-proof fence" in the CBD (Central Business District, what Americans refer to as "downtown"), and on Friday, Sept. 7, Sydney's schools will be closed down. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, 22 law-enforcing Labradors will be out a-sniffing, hospitality staff in the CBD will be subject to stringent security checks, and even Google has obligingly fuzzed out its online maps of downtown Sydney to help thwart potential intruders. But if you don't like the fuss, you can get away from it all on a special Air New Zealand "Escape APEC" flight.

On Sept. 5, U.S. President George W. Bush hits town, followed by the leaders of participating nations in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, 2007. Hu Jintao from China will be here, as will Vladimir Putin of Russia. Hu is riding high on China's growth-rate curve, and a revitalized and bolshie Putin is cooking with plenty of gas.