Its role in Darfur is seen as a failure. It has almost no role in the Middle East. The UN has a colourful history of international diplomacy, but now, as its officials turn on the secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, the conflicts it faces are closer to home.

Is it time to pull down the shutters on the UN? In a highly personal commentary on the strife at the United Nations, a former special assistant to Kofi Annan says the 60-year-old institution is no longer fit to solve the problems of an ‘archipelago world’. And Ban Ki-moon is not the man to revitalise its out-of-date remit.

Russians promise to stub out the smoking habit, getting high in Stockholm, and bridging a great divide in Germany.

How a herd of zebras is saving lives on Bolivia's roads, and the Caribbean island where ATM machines have become a tourist attraction.

How China just got bigger and staying in touch with the dead in Japan.

Style tips from Libya's Great Style Leader and why watching TV in Lebanon can be fatal.

Auckland's Asian mix and rating Rudd's international performance.

Making malls in Brazil, keeping faith with coal in Australia and how Japan has its finger on the pulse of the latest biometric technology.

Where to tuck yourself into bed in Zürich, the addresses you need in Paris, and the latest news for business travellers.

This month's latest art, music, book and film releases.

Swedish summer houses, a Portuguese museum and an interview with Philipp Mainzer of e15.

In our Workhorse series we profile Scotland's premier cashmere company, Johnstons. Plus, a Q&A with the new owners of Bally, and wardrobe wants from Tomorrowland and Robinson les Bains.

As a former radio journalist, Ahmed Abdisalam Adan has faced death threats and seen colleagues killed. Now, he is deputy prime minister in Somalia’s first functioning government since 1991. He tells Monocle about life in a humanitarian disaster zone.

On the island of O’ahu in Hawaii, members of a local independence movement have succeeded in winning back land claimed by the US in 1893. Now many are calling for nothing less than Hawaii’s complete secession from US rule.

Affluent Arabs used to head to hospitals in the US when they needed treatment. But now, post-Iraq, they are increasingly choosing Germany’s private clinics. With the average foreign patient spending an estimated €80,000 a stay, competition to attract the medical tourists is fierce.

India has 600 million people under 25 and a burgeoning consumer society. How are brands courting these people? Monocle visits Mumbai’s advertising agencies to witness an atmosphere as heady as New York or London in their 1970s golden days.

Baselworld watch fair is where manufacturers unveil the new timepieces that often take years to craft. There are no quick sales either; brands eager to retain exclusivity don’t sell to any old oligarch.

This year’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile defied the credit crunch with an optimistic mood and a record number of visitors – 348,000 in total, 29 per cent more than 2007, 210,000 of whom came from abroad. Visitors from booming South American countries were particularly strong.

Taking advantage of its position at the oil and gas gateway to southern Europe, Thessaloniki has become northern Greece’s boom town. With €6bn in business investment and an infrastructure upgrade, it is now the key player in a resurgent Balkan region.

Deutsche Börse, a public company since 2001, operates Germany’s biggest stock exchange, in Frankfurt. With locations in 14 countries, the company is valued at €26bn, making it one of the largest exchange organisations in the world. Since January, its crown jewel in Frankfurt has operated from this new state-of-the-art trading floor.

Heineken and Carlsberg have been changing the Swiss beer market by buying up the country’s independent breweries. But in an Alpine village, a small company dedicated to artisanship and good design is standing firm.

Continuing our series looking at foreign coverage of the US presidential elections is Klaus Brinkbäumer, one of five US-based correspondents for the German weekly Der Spiegel. He has questioned McCain, Clinton, Obama and his wife, Michelle.

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology is Asia’s MIT or Cambridge, and determined to be as well-known. Its innovation – and robot humanoids – proves it to be worthy of the task.

Now you’ve chosen the ideal bag for your summer sortie you’ll be wanting to fill it with some new seasonal staples. Here we suggest a few articles for your perfect summer packing. Bon voyage, buen viaje, gute Reise, buon viaggio!

It creates the ultimate communications equipment that allows everyone from troops in Afghanistan to sailors in the Atlantic to be constantly a call away. And now Thrane & Thrane is finding that information junkies and businessmen are buying its Danish state-of-the-art telecom units.

The oldest city in the West, Cádiz is an unspoilt destination where you get to experience authentic Spain (ie you’ll need to learn the language). Now its historic quarter, Casco Antiguo, is undergoing a regeneration project that is helping make the city an ideal place to own a home.

Angelika Taschen has given more established book publishers a run for their money and turned the sexy and subversive Taschen Books into a global powerhouse. She chooses simple wurst for her last meal.

Japanese car company Subaru has always attracted a less conformist driver. Its crossover 434 Forester epitomises the brand’s quirky but unflashy design and solid reliability. Although recent Subaru models are looking a little less eccentric, they still manage to attract a diverse following. While every country has a Subaru sub culture, Switzerland’s is a curious mix of high-speed policemen, laid-back farmers and the odd national hero.