I hope you enjoyed the festive period. For the past two weeks openDemocracy has been looking back at the best of 2011 with sections preparing front pages of their own. The quality reflects the quite extraordinary year it has been: from the Arab Spring to the London riots; from the prospect of war with Iran to Putin’s fall from grace; the year of Occupy, SlutWalks and the Euro crisis. All of these are themes featured throughout the last twelve months and two weeks.