"Today... Europe is talking about 'the French question': can the Socialist government of President François Hollande pull France out of its slow decline and prevent it from slipping permanently into Europe's second tier?"

"Contrary to appearances, Germany is not simply receding ever deeper into itself. In fact, the Berlin Republic is quietly asserting itself and fleshing out its foreign policy. The unwillingness to act as France's cheerleader in the greater Mediterranean comes with the creeping recovery of self-confidence, and a desire to reposition itself vis-à-vis this historically French sphere of influence."

"With U.S. polls showing Americans wanting fewer global entanglements and dramatically reduced defense spending, and with Congress stuck in its budget limbo, the Afghanistan war still two years from Obama's finish line, and Middle East countries embroiled in a bloody tectonic shift, it will be Hagel's job to explain why Asian security, on top of all of that, is also a job for the United States."

"It seems now that [Egypt's] main relevance in regional and global affairs is as a potential source of trouble. Its combination of instability, corruption and ineptitude makes Egypt fertile soil for radicalism and Islamist militancy. And Washington should treat it as such. It should stop pretending Egypt is an important player in Arab affairs, and pay more attention to countries that are."

"For better or worse, violence usually provides the most definitive answers to three major questions of political life: statehood, territoriality, and power. Violent struggle—war, revolution, terrorism—more than any other immediate factor, determines what nations will exist and their relative power, what territories they occupy, and which groups will exercise power within them."

Beyond its borders, Qatar has championed revolution, public protest and demands for democracy around the region.

"Europe is under pressure, both internally and from its allies, to take more responsibility for defence and security, especially in its immediate neighbourhood. The post-Cold War history of European deployments in Europe and joint NATO missions provide abundant evidence of such demands. Currently, US defence spending represents 72 percent of the NATO total – up from 63 percent in 2001."

"Azerbaijan is arming to the teeth. Armenia is growing increasingly disillusioned with Russia, its main protector. And the potential for armed conflict in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region appears higher than it has been in years."

"Though the overall number of arrests along the southern U.S. border has fallen near its lowest point in 40 years, there has been a surge of unlawful newcomers from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador since 2011."

"Ever since its start, the existential threat to the single currency has mainly come from two separate but related scenarios: a massive bank run by depositors convinced their euros were about to be turned back into drachmas, escudos or pesetas; or Italy losing access to the bond market, making it unable to refinance its massive €2tn debt pile."

"The United States government announced last week that it would not, after all, make a determination as to whether the ouster of Egypt's Mohamed Morsi constituted a 'coup.' This decision has both important strategic and financial implications for the United States. By not designating Morsi's expulsion as a military coup, U.S. law allows the United States to continue its $1.5 billion in annual aid to Egypt. This second largest foreign aid package, after Israel, is tied to the Egypt-Israel peace treaty and also contributes to the annual budgets of major American defense companies."

"Islamist parties associated with the Muslim Brotherhood in the region reacted with condemnation and consternation to the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi in Egypt. But, they were mostly careful to disassociate themselves from the Egyptian Brotherhood's uncompromising style of leadership (rushing in a new Islamist constitution and monopolizing power around Mohamed Morsi)."

"A return to protracted political crisis, and possibly extensive violence, is likely, as Zimbabwe holds inadequately prepared presidential, parliamentary and local elections on 31 July. Conditions for a free and fair vote do not exist. Confidence in the process and institutions is low. The voters roll is a shambles, security forces unreformed and the media grossly imbalanced. The electoral commission is under-funded and lacked time to prepare. Concerns about rigging are pervasive, strongly disputed results highly likely."

"Egypt's Islamists may draw the bitter lesson that the "deep state" will not let them wield real power, even with a democratic mandate. This report, compiled from interviews with senior Muslim Brotherhood and secular politicians, youth activists, military officers and diplomats, examines four turning points on Egypt's revolutionary road: the Brotherhood's decision to seek the presidency; the way Mursi pushed through the constitution; the failures of the secular opposition; and the military's decision to step in."

"The Philippines has set off on a risky mission to do what no nation in the region has managed to do: thwart China in its drive to control the vast waters around it."

The ingredients for Detroit's longterm economic recovery are already there. It is worth noting that "the quality of knowledge institutions, its International airport, and openness to global talent put Detroit in a different category than other hard-pressed Rustbelt cities."

"Be skeptical of concepts that divorce war from its political nature, particularly those that promise fast, cheap victory through technology."

A country may decide to stay inside the eurozone for political or security reasons. But surely we are at a different stage of debate when an exit becomes economically viable.

What's happening in Syria isn't a pretty sight, as the moderates struggle to survive without the expected Western aid.

A key player in the European Union, Catherine Ashton caps her turn as a diplomat by orchestrating an impossible seeming peace between Serbia and Kosovo.