Only a year ago, savers from Europe were pouring money into Icelandic banks, looking to capitalise on high interest rates. Now the banks are bust and the nation’s identity is shaken. On page 19 Monocle travels to Reykjavik to discover the human cost, but first we look at how it all happened.

The collapse of Iceland’s banks is sending shock waves through the nation. Job losses and mortgage increases are common complaints on the streets of Reykjavik. But though the mood is bleak, some creative Icelanders are fighting back.

The Iraq war has been big business for US military contractors (AKA mercenaries). But now, as the withdrawal of troops becomes imminent, firms are looking to Africa as the next lucrative source of revenue.

In 1974 residents started moving to AlphaVille, São Paulo’s first gated community. Today there are 300 around the city. While residents may have escaped from becoming entries in the city’s kidnap and murder statistics, they now face new problems.

Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan has escaped the worst of the war raging across the rest of the country. Its new airport, coupled with burgeoning trade, offer hope for this one corner of a ravaged nation.

While bankers on Wall Street continue to sweat and plan new career moves, their colleagues in Beirut are literally counting their good fortunes. Book publishers in London and armoured car manufacturers in Bogotá are also feeling secure about their prospects. Monocle looks at the firms bucking the market and finding new opportunities.

In tough economic times, shops will need something special to keep customers. Monocle’s new star retailers are a supermarket with a concierge, a childrenswear store with staff chosen for their childcare skills, and a bookshop that stocks back issues of magazines.

Nine years ago, TV in Pakistan was decades behind India, with just two – state-run – channels and output that was mainly government propaganda. Today its mix of drag divas and campaigning reporters is challenging the old order.

Frida Hyvönen is a singer-songwriter with an intimate understanding of the grand piano and the great outdoors. Monocle went backstage with the Swedish chanteuse in Paris as she prepared to play songs from her new record, ‘Silence is Wild’.

Until now there has not been a dedicated, unbiased Farsi-speaking TV station broadcasting in Iran. That’s about to change with the launch of the BBC World Service’s Persian TV. It aims to put a new spin on the country and break down a few cultural barriers.

On a visit to the southern Japanese prefecture of Saga, New York restaurateur Mikio Shinagawa was appalledby the destruction of the region’s traditional houses. He set about saving and restoring them, and has even managed to sell one to Robert De Niro.

Set up nearly four years ago by three engineering graduates, Aptomar is one of the many innovative young start-ups thriving in Trondheim, the tech capital of Norway. The firm’s latest maritime navigation equipment is not only state-of-the-art in terms of technology, but it’s also rather beautiful to look at. Monocle visits the company’s headquarters.

What Finland's president, Tarja Halonen, has in her motorcade, why Russia's building boom has hit the brakes, and how the Vatican is doing its bit in the fight against climate change.

Urban farming in Japan, Korea's mission to put its cuisine on the map, and farewell to to Cambodia's "bamboo" railways.

Our new column from Washington on President Obama's administration, plus baseball-mania in Nicaragua and the Dane who is making NYC more cycle-friendly.

We throw the spotlight on the sartorial style of Libya's Saif al-Gaddafi and Somaliland's hi-tech elections.

Australia's new-generation mosque, and why Cuban doctors are being sent to the Solomon Islands.

Our new military strategy column examines how the US might unwittingly encourage China to bolster its nuclear arsenal. Plus, what the armies of Europe are spending their money on, and the EDA members who have started their own "airlift club".

Why investors are turning to pawn, who is taking to electric cars, and India's post gets an extreme makeover. Plus Parchim: Germany's new cargo hub.

Park Hyatt's Palas coup in Istanbul, China's regional jet makes its inaugural flight and our Milanese travel itinerary. Plus, the man who's sure this is the time to start a new airline in Brazil.

FILM: Crooked Turkish politicians and tough French schools keep us glued to the screen. BOOKS: A macabre tale of suspense, a modern-day Treasure Island, and the latest in Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon series. ART: A young British artist who makes sculptures out of mouse hair and hornets' nests, and the poetic photographs of Alexander Scott. MUSIC: Portland folk, a saucy US/Japanese pop duo and Emmy the Great's debut album.

Yves Saint Laurent's final show stoppers, and is the writing on the wall for Urban Art?

Beirut apartments, South Korean villages and a silk rethink in India.

Be positive's fancy footwork, the Japanese shop that will cook you dinner, and Scotland's D.S. Dundee.

After last summer’s disastrous war against Russia, Georgia’s opposition leaders felt that patriotism should come before any attack on their president, Mikheil Saakashvili. But now the time for retribution is getting nearer and many believe the person who will replace him is Nino Burjanadze, a wealthy power broker and Margaret Thatcher fan.

New York’s JFK terminal 3 is bulking up on security equipment to fight terrorism – and catch people who forgot to throw away their water bottle. And it’s not the only airport doing so – providers of this technology are reeling in profits from airport overhauls around the globe. Now if only they could do something about the security staff.

Among our favourite products found on our travels are the Amadana mobile phones and a foldable, full-size bike.

For our series on media barons we feature Erick Thohir, founder of the Mahaka Media group in Jakarta. After revitalising the failing paper ‘Republika’ he’s now on a mission to modernise print, radio and TV in a freer Indonesia.

Getting into shape is hard work, so we need all the help we can get. Here, Monocle selects the most comfortable trainers, the most useful gadgets and the most nutritious supplements to help you get fit.

Set among the embassies and doctors’ surgeries in Marylebone, London, this petite penthouse pulled in Swiss carpenters along with British and Danish storage solutions to deal with a mass of media and an upside-down layout.

This tree-lined street in Sydney’s Surry Hills led the neighbourhood’s transformation from a quiet, run-down suburb into a cool shopping destination with a real sense of community. Bourke Street is at the centre of the area’s identity, full of independent design shops and great places to eat.

Rønning Ski has produced wooden skis in the village of Skotterud in Norway since 1936. While other manufacturers die out, switch to fibreglass or move to China, Rønning keeps modernising the wooden ski and finding new fans.

Long overshadowed by Seattle and San Francisco, Oregon’s largest city has achieved its own renown for an outdoors lifestyle, environmental emphasis and clichéd-but-real mania for coffee, beer, food and wine. North Portland might be the city’s most intriguing neighbourhood.

Celebrated Swedish chef Mathias Dahlgren enjoys preparing complex dinners at work but likes to keep things simple in his free time. For the setting of his last meal, he would choose the quiet Nyckelviken forest just outside of Stockholm for a rustic rye and cheese sandwich and a robust cup of black coffee.

The South Koreans have become the globe’s most successful shipbuilders – the country is home to the three biggest shipyards in the world, all based around the port of Busan. That’s great when the global economy is in full steam but not so good when it gets that sinking feeling. But innovation and the arts can stop Busan becoming the Detroit of the East.

While you’ve been easing into the New Year we’ve been minding the shop – literally. That’s why we think governments left wondering how to stimulate consumer spending should try creating a new merchant class that’s focused on innovation, service and tantalising hungry customers. By Tyler Brûlé.