Everyone likes the idea of fair, accountable and effective international institutions to cope with global economic, environment and security issues. But what form should they take? David Held and Paul Hirst argue for gradual reform within. George Monbiot advocates root and branch democratisation of the UN, and the creation of a new economic order. Other contributors identify key dilemmas and suggest creative solutions.
Vladimir Putin, "Soviet man" who missed class
The Russian president’s coarse tongue and bad jokes mark him as a figure out of time, says Christoph Neidhart.
Africa: celebrity and salvation
The relationship between rich western celebrities and poor Africans highlights a hard challenge to the orthodoxies of aid policy, says Michael Holman.
Shinzo Abe: riding high on ambiguity
Japan's confident, loquacious new prime minister has made a smooth landing. That's what worries Noriko Hama.
Russia's energy policy: politics or economics?
Russia's combative "resource nationalism" is a reaction to the frontier capitalism of the 1990s. The west should look, learn and reform, says Dieter Helm.
Western oil companies are reeling from a series of setbacks in Russia. Welcomed in under Boris Yeltsin, offering a new frontier for exploration and production, the likes of BP and Shell saw a chance to build up their reserves. BP saw Russia as a next step in its history - after Iran (it was the Anglo-Persian Oil Company originally), then Alaska, and then the North Sea.
Russian death, European stain
The degradation of Russian society revealed in the killing of Anna Politkovskaya both echoes and contrasts with the Soviet era, says the Chilean novelist Jorge Edwards.
Dr Strangelove in Pyongyang
North Korea has conducted a nuclear-weapons test. What comes next? Peter Hayes & Tim Savage recommend what not to do.
Anna Politkovskaya: death of a professional
The killing of a journalist who fearlessly reported the horror of Chechnya's wars is a devastating blow to free media in Russia, reports Shaun Walker in Moscow.
Italy's centre-left and Europe's future
The formation of a new centre-left political party could pioneer new thinking about realignment across the European Union, says Denis MacShane.
The nuclear shopping-mall: AQ Khan and Iran
The worldwide network in sales of nuclear technology created by the Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan is a key element in the stand-off between Tehran and Washington, says Gordon Corera.
Russia: what demographic crisis?
A Soviet-era perspective suggests to Mary Dejevsky that Russia’s current population trends offer grounds for optimism.
The Queen: an elegiac prophecy
The real target of Stephen Frears's depiction of a British queen under siege from politicians and people following Princess Diana's death is the constitutional system embodied in Tony Blair's imperial prime ministership. Tom Nairn, pioneering critic of Britain's monarchical state, views the film and looks beyond.
Britain's tax nexus: able fraudsters, useful idiots
While Britain's political and media classes are obsessed with the succession to Tony Blair as New Labour leader and prime minister, the country's economy is being drained and distorted by massive VAT fraud, writes Christopher Harvie.
The Koizumi legacy and Japan's future
There are no miracles in Japanese politics. Shinzo Abe, frontrunner in the three-way contest to succeed Junichiro Koizumi as president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was indeed elected to the post on 20 September 2006. Abe's 464 votes made it a decisive victory over his two rivals, Taro Aso (136) and Sadakazu Tanigaki (102). That paves the way to a vote in the Diet (parliament) on 26 September which will make him the country's twenty-sixth prime minister under its 1947 constitution.
The double elevation of Shinzo Abe draws the Koizumi era to a natural close. It also raises the question of the departing leader's legacy. The key element in any assessment must be the quality of Japanese governance after five years of frenetic activity and high-octane rhetoric, whose central theme has been that most seductive of all political words: "reform".
Roman Abramovich's Chukotka project
Russia's far east is the site of an experiment in government and social development led by Roman Abramovich, billionaire businessman and owner of Chelsea football club. Zygmunt Dzieciolowski, who has tracked the Chukotka story for six years, uses his unique access to the region to send this progress report.
Darfur and the 'responsibility to protect'
The international community has run out of excuses - but not options - in Darfur, says David Mepham.
This week's editor
Europe from the bottom up
European debate
Democratic Wealth
Nuclear non-proliferation
oDRussia at journalismfestival .com
Mali - the plot thickens
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Remote control war
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Conference coverage from 50.50
Articles exploring the themes of the fourth international Nobel Women's Initiative conference May 28-31. Jennifer Allsopp and Heather McRobie will be reporting for 5050
Articles exploring the themes of the fourth international Nobel Women's Initiative conference May 28-31. Jennifer Allsopp and Heather McRobie will be reporting for 5050
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Dan Hancox Revel, Riot and Rebellion
Martin Rose Bliss Was It in that Dawn to Be Next Door
Vron Ware Up in Arms
Jim Gabour Sunday Comics
James Warner Standing Perpendicular, as books do
Markha Valenta Inter Alia: religion, politics, culture
Paul Rogers on Global security
Mary Kaldor on Human security
