POLITICS: LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD (If there is one lesson from 1996 to carry into the new year it is this: war, peace, justice and oppression live and die a little bit at a time. There are no watersheds, no quick fixes nor disasters from out of the blue.)... CIVIL WAR: SURRENDER IS OUT OF THE QUESTION... PEACE: CAN THAILAND LEAD THE REGION TO PEACE?... ECONOMICS: PRESSURE ON UNOCAL MOUNTS... NEWS BRIEFS