From a state-of-the-art concert hall to an international court and the murkiest waters of diplomacy, we meet the leaders who trust their instincts in tricky times.
South Korea has announced that next year it will pick several universities to begin educating students about the country's plans for a unified Korean Peninsula. The government's Unification Ministry says it has set aside…
In a year characterised by a chest-beating world leader with land-grabbing tendencies, what lessons can be taken from the 25th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s collapse?
South Korea’s Ministry of Unification is adamant that not only would the reunification of the Korean peninsula be a positive step but that it’s also a realistic goal. Monocle paid a visit to try and establish the source of…
Once the recipient of foreign financial handouts, the Republic of Korea has transformed itself into a manufacturing powerhouse and an aid donor. As the G20 summit opens in Seoul, Monocle asks whether it is giving enough and…
If you’re Germany, you have no option but to assert yourself globally with a softly, softly approach. Since the fall of the Wall, Germany’s foreign office has become master of gently promoting ‘Brand Germany’, with Berlin…
Its role in Darfur is seen as a failure. It has almost no role in the Middle East. The UN has a colourful history of international diplomacy, but now, as its officials turn on the secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, the confl…