Burundi

Egypt, a country whose ancient history is a constant, unmissable presence, is well used to the idea that things aren't what they used to be. Andrew Mueller travelled to the once cosmopolitan port of Alexandria, where swimmers now favour burqas over bikinis.

Brazil is a nation on the up and on the diplomatic stage it is being listened to as never before. Its soft-power push is being masterminded by diplomats working in the Oscar Niemeyer-designed Foreign Ministry in Brasilia. Monocle visits them to see how they are shaping a new world order.

With the Netherlands Antilles about to disappear from the map, residents of Curaçao are learning to assert their identity as both Venezuela and the US jostle for influence on the Dutch island outpost.

On our TV screens, conflict and bloodshed define Israel. But while these images are key to understanding the country, there are many other pictures we never see. In a personal essay, journalist Zed Nelson gives us his view of the nation.

As Kosovo prepares to celebrate the second anniversary of its declaration of independence, the small Balkan country is still fighting to win the world's attention. In Pristina, a young government struggles to earn diplomatic recognition in other capitals and is using the airwaves to put a cheerful face on its often tragic path to independence.

How do you run a village - or a nation? Do you need to be skilled at consensus politics - or a bit of tyrant? Do you need a BlackBerry - or a chargé d'affaires? Monocle spent a month meeting global leaders at every level to see how they manage their realms.

Melilla, in Morocco, is one of two Spanish colonies left on the African continent. The enclave is a lure for illegal immigrants who try to cross the border into Europe. Monocle's Saul Taylor heads to the border to take a look.

Estonia is a modern, hi-tech nation facing some old-fashioned problems. In his private offices in Stenbock House in Tallinn, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip talks to editor Andrew Tuck about having Russia as a neighbour, sending troops to Afghanistan and how to save the economy.

"Save the world" is just one of the items on the "to do" list of Denmark's prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, this year. And he might just do it. This year he will host COP15, the United Nations Climate Change Conference that will try to find a new agreement to replace the Kyoto protocol, and Rasmussen believes his country can show the rest of the world a greener future. In a far-reaching interview he also talks about immigration, Afghanistan and what he thinks of Obama.

Post September 11 every embassy was built as a bunker ready to repel all comers. But now, from Kathmandu to Harare, architects are reinventing the mission as a national calling card. Robert Bound reports.

Founded 32 years ago, Nigerian capital Abuja was a utopian dream. But it became marred by corruption and few could afford to live there. Today, as the cranes return, its new minister is attempting to forge a truly African city.

As the US presidential election draws closer, at Monocle we've been turning our attention to who we'd like to see in the Cabinet. From CEOs to hip hop moguls, we've found a team who could change America's image around the world.

When Turkmenistan's President Niyazov died in 2006, it was the end of an eccentric personality cult. His successor promised to open the state up but today the gas-rich nation is still an enigma. Foreign journalists are unwelcome but Monocle entered the country to see what, if anything, has changed.

Beirut's Christian quarter of Ashrafieh has weathered civil war, terrorist assassinations and the recent Hezbollah-Israeli conflict. But today the hill-top neighbourhood is once again under threat, this time from developers who are destroying the old palaces to build high-rises for the country's internationally mobile elite. As Lebanon faces yet another uncertain summer, Monocle editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé pays a visit to Lady Yvonne Cochrane, doyenne of the Christian East and owner of one of the most alluring palaces in the eastern Mediterranean, to talk urban planning, architecture and the future of her country.