Recent high-profile security lapses and safety concerns have damaged the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency’s standing. Aware of its PR failings, the body has launched a hunt to find the nuclear industry’s most beautiful…

Five years ago, one of Khabarovsk’s main exports was its women, who went to work as prostitutes in Japan. Today, the Russian city is booming, thanks to its natural resources. But can this city, closer to Beijing than Moscow…

Following this summer’s Georgian war, breakaway territory Abkhazia has been recognised as independent by Russia and Nicaragua. Limited diplomatic credibility hasn’t stopped it wanting the trappings of statehood: it hopes…

It’s a vital military outpost, dogged by organised crime. However, with huge Chinese, Korean and Japanese markets on its shores, Vladivostok could become Russia’s Far Eastern giant.

During the conflict in South Ossetia, western media were given free access by the Georgian government, while on the Russian side, foreign journalists were being either arrested or herded around by the military. In both…

During the Putin years the process of democratisation in Russia has stalled, with worrying human-rights violations. But a barely heard opposition is fighting back. Led by chess master Garry Kasparov, advised by activist…

Finns aren't what they used to be - the rise of the Nordic suburbs; fighting crime in Stockholm and hitting new lows on the Milanese high street.

As things continue to heat up at the top of the world (at press time Russia was sending large numbers of bombers over the Arctic to tease Norwegian interceptors), Monocle continues its tour of the High North with a stop in…

Struggling nations and cities need to hitch up their skirts, quicken their step and just get on with it. Our editor-in-chief follows up the debates stirred up in this issue.