Burma's government and political leaders are now paying a bitter price for allowing the reform process to be undermined by violence, racism and hatred.
There is a public realm, and it nurtures a society of free citizens. The painful, complex evolution of this idea in the People's Republic of China is one of the great struggles of the modern world.
An unlikely alliance of four states is coalescing to oppose the ISIS advance in Iraq. But the group may not wait to be challenged.
The world's newest state exploded into violence at the end of 2013. The reasons are varied and defy the common, simplistic portrait of a "tribal war", says Gérard Prunier.
The extended legal fallout of Argentina's default in 2001 is reaching a crucial stage, with realism now at a premium.
The crisis around Iraq-Syria reflects the weight of a past that is no longer relevant to the region's peoples, says Hazem Saghieh.
An escalating conflict across much of northern Iraq and Syria involves a kaleidoscope of forces, with Iran and Saudi Arabia playing a key role.
The approaching centenary of the genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman empire is a moment for Turkey's civil society to create a new ethical reality around the issue
ISIL is now intent on consolidating its military gains in Iraq. Any western intervention would play into the group's hands.
The depiction of Lebanon as the most brittle and even artificial nation in its region is based more on myth than reality, says Hazem Saghieh.
A year of social turbulence preceded Brazil's hosting of football's World Cup, with the competition itself a symbolic target of many protests. What do Brazilians think now? Arthur Ituassu, in Rio, reflects.
