Governments must be smart to build the city of the future, write Carlo Ratti and Matthew Claudel

Russia sidelining itself from the global economy will usher in a new era, writes Giles Merritt

The country’s political leaders are united around a shared reform agenda that is working, writes Enrique Peña Nieto

Sitting in Paris as the US’s first ambassador to France, Thomas Jefferson reflected on how the new US government could avoid the errors of European “despots” who kept their people subjugated through war and debt.

Despite problems in the way of helping the poor, there are reasons to hope, writes Bill Gates

ABOUT 2,500 years ago, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus concluded that war was the father of all things.

BEFORE he “resigned” last August, Fawzi Abd al-Aali, the former Libyan interior minister, said: “They are armed, I am not going to fight a losing battle and kill my men over a demolished shrine.”

Syria’s woes point to an irreversible weakening of Western supremacy, writes Jaswant Singh

The WikiLeaks leader has impugned the reputations of two member states, says Ana Palacio

The contrast between Germany and its European neighbours is awkward, but a strong eurozone needs a strong Germany, writes Mohamed A El-Erian

The country Richard Nixon visited in 1972 is a distant memory, but China has work to do to challenge the West, writes Minxin Pei

The significance of Indonesia’s decision to ratify of the nuclear test-ban treaty should not to be underestimated, write Carl Bildt and Patricia Espinosa Cantellano

Iran is not building its nuclear capabilities to destroy Israel but to gain influence and prestige in a hostile region, writes Shlomo Ben-Ami

ONE puzzling and often overlooked feature of the France that elected Nicolas Sarkozy as its new president, and that is now poised to give his political allies a powerful parliamentary mandate after tomorrow’s elections, is its mix of private optimism and public pessimism.

WITH Gaza under the control of Hamas, pity poor Mahmoud Abbas, leader of Fatah, who took over as president of the Palestinian Authority two-and-a-half years ago, after the death of Yasser Arafat.

FORTY years after the Six Day War, peace between Israelis and Palestinians seems as distant as ever.