Turkey's president is confirmed once more as the master of Turkish politics. Now he faces his greatest challenge.

Turkey's election result is a tribute to its vibrant democracy. But there are hard political and economic tests to come.

Since the Rwandan genocide and the wars in former Yugoslavia, the idea of a “responsibility to protect” vulnerable populations has acquired currency. The Libyan and Syrian crises have, however, seen the value of that currency recalibrated.

More coordination and strategy are needed in Europe's response to the sinister signs of stolen revolution. The political-strategic impulse has come from the south in the past. In the current economic crisis this should be more the case, not less.

The Arab spring has cast Turkey back into the western fold and away from alternative alliance patterns which seemed to be in the pipeline only a few years ago. Turkey won't act in Syria without its western partners. Meanwhile it is the very incompleteness of the Turkish model which is of such interest to its neighbours.

The uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East have swept away decade-old dictators, but not their regimes. It will take far more than protests to ensure that they are throughly replaced. Here's how the EU can contribute to this process.