The jihadist campaigns, from Syria and Iraq to Kenya and Nigeria, have a religious focus. But their deeper trigger is the marginalisation created by a failing economic system.
What do events in Syria-Iraq, Egypt, Somalia-Kenya and Nigeria reveal about al-Qaida's condition? The movement has again commissioned advice from its preferred management consultancy, whose unrivalled sources inform a stark analysis.
The interrupted campaign to eradicate polio worldwide reflects the spread of conflict and insecurity since 2001.
If important new studies of social and economic failure can be fused with awareness of environmental and security trends, the chances of progress will be multiplied.
The east-west dispute over Crimea is full of tensions within as well as between each side. Its drivers include the chance to refuel older geopolitical ambitions.
Many new paths to climate action are being taken, with the global south in the forefront. Even modest support and publicity from their northern counterparts can bring huge benefits.
The issue of civilian casualties from armed-drone strikes in Afghanistan and elsewhere needs transparency from Britain's military establishment. Both legal and civic pressures are rising.
A parliamentary report on the UK's use of armed-drones in Afghanistan is, in its language and its attitude to casualties, a study in closure.
Vladimir Putin's vision of Russia's destiny has parallels with George W Bush's of the United States in the aftermath of 9/11. This makes the existing crisis over Ukraine even more acute.
The retreat from Afghanistan is proving hard enough for the United States. But its military return to Iraq is much more serious.
The dangerous stand-off with Russia over Ukraine is also a display of the west's skewed perceptions and moral vanities.
A new political tone on climate change in Britain is matched by a breakthrough in understanding the retreat of tropical glaciers.
