Affairs
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The happiness formula
We often ask if people are ‘ok’. But since when was being ok good enough? This isn't about scraping by: it’s about celebrating elements of life that surpass the ordinary.
Serious business
A slavish addiction to your smartphone can bring you down. App developers and ‘happiness consultants’ think they can help. But are they really enough to keep you smiling?
Soft Power Survey 2018/19
We join the conga of the top 25 nations that got it right (and wrong) in this most delicate of diplomatic skills.
Shake a leg
Our ninth annual survey of the nations whose softer tactics are getting results.
Politics
Spain’s minister in charge of smoothing domestic relations, plus a look at the fight brewing among Bosnia’s presidents.
The opener
We decode people's desire for casual attire, lap up Korean food diplomacy and take a trip down memory lane in Canada.
The other half
For better or worse, first ladies and first men have the opportunity to be the softer face of an administration. Who gets it right?
One thing I learned this year
Whether caught up in terror or a typhoon – or governing a nation – all of our writers learned a key lesson in 2018.
