With ethical production techniques all the rage and consumers demanding to know exactly how and where their best-loved products are manufactured, the time has come for big brands to become a whole lot more transparent.

Baku’s skyline is marking out the Azerbaijani capital as a city for the 21st century, with its five-star hotels and Zaha Hadid-designed arts centre, but there’s still much work to do to combat its 20th-century

Relations with Russia are improving, it escaped the economic crisis and young entrepreneurs are returning with new ideas and cash. Monocle reports on how Poland, despite the odds, became the European nation to watch.

Unreliable labelling, products made in questionable factories – are luxury brands about to face Foxconn-style scandals? We look at the firms leading a provenance revival from LA to Helsinki.

It may still be in its infancy, but can Daimler's car2go flexible car-sharing service really provide enough vehicles to meet demand while offering realistic ease of use and affordability? Monocle puts it to the test.

Bosses are wising up to the benefits of creating a more humane workplace. Not only does this give staff a sense of pride and belonging but it also expresses a company’s ethos to clients. Welcome to the anti-office.

What your moustache says about your politics (if your Turskish), why Germany has its eyes on the Eurotunnel and why mint is flavour of the month in Finland.

Badly equipped and under-trained, India's police force needs more than just investment. We also report on the Burmese elections, Vietnam's unlikely new friend, and a former Chinese politician speaking out against the government.

Costa Rica's first female president gets the once over in our Style Leader. Plus our Washington correspondent reports on how big business and political campaigns in the US don't always make good bedfellows.

Monocle looks t James Michel, president of the Seychelles, and his motorcade, plus Malawi's new flag and Zanzibar's model way of dealing with political strife.

The latest from the Pacific islands, including a sanitation crisis in Tuvalu and the phasing of Vanuatu's handwritten passport.

An interview with the rear admiral in charge of an anti-piracy operation in the Horn of Africa, plus a round-up of the latest arms deals and military news around the world.

The Japanese prerfecture that leads the world that leads there world in LED making, the American company that keeps judges well-robed, and the Berlin coffee geeks on a cappuccino high.

Seven Tokyo galleries put aside their rivalry and form a collective, while London prepares to pull out the stops for Frieze week.

Culture editor Robert Bound's column on Alan Bennett's play The History of Art, as well as our latest book, film and music reviews.

The entrepreneurs putting Africa on the app-map, the vinyl producer teaching everyone a lesson, and a visit to one of our favourite Honk Kong newsagents.

A government building in Zaragoza, a Dieter Rams revival in London and a beautiful packaged computer from the US.

Palestine is on the cusp of getting its own modern banking system and the Palestinian pound may return. Monocle talks to the governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority, Jihad al-Wazir, about changes being made to the economy.

Mazen Hajjar launched his first beer under gunfire, entered a Lebanese market dominated by one player and had a unique approach to management. And now? He’s head of a thriving beer company with ambitions to conquer the world.

Is there a future for local newspapers? We meet the believers from a British octogenarian maverick to a hi-tech Czech publisher and witness triumphs but also a spectacular failure as it happens.

Wannabe nations, industrial behemoths and global media brands all know the value of having their man, or woman, in Washington. It may lack the old cold war intrigues but It's still where the fate of the world can be decided.

New York-based Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovic´ is not about ‘easy’ art. Preparations for her recent show involved her and 39 people living in a barn with no food and no talking for three days. Here she explains how she works.

In a British design scene full of limited-edition pieces and experimentalism, Tomoko Azumi’s furniture is striking for its elegance and simplicity – so much so that the Japanese designer has been awarded a solo show in her adopted homeland.

When nightclub mogul Marcos Campos wanted to create a more refined and relaxed venue, he asked architect Isay Weinfeld to help craft the perfect setting. With Numero, the pair have made an elegant lounge that is revolutionising nightlife for their fellow Paulistas.

To kick off the autumn fashion season, Monocle starts at the bottom and finishes at the top – with a flourish.

This month we suggest you refresh your wish list with a sturdy yet stylish bike lock, an unflappable brolly and a colourful birdfeeder that will make feathery visitors to your garden feel like VIPs.

This month’s tips for travellers include foodie havens in Jerusalem and Miami, and beautiful places to lay your head in Santiago, Copenhagen and the Italian countryside. We also profile Japan’s one-plane airline, Amakusa.

It’s not just 30 minutes closer to central Tokyo than Narita. The new international terminal at Haneda Airport is also a unique retail concept.

With a mix of traditional flats and small-scale retailers, Sheung Wan also has a real sense of community.

Claus Meyer, writer, food campaigner and part-time vinegar maker, shows us his favourite food haunts around Frederiksberg, a unique municipality in the heart of the Danish capital.

Gianni Riotta, editor-in-chief of business newspaper ‘Il Sole 24 Ore’, would invite all his loved ones to a Sicilian feast for his ‘last meal’.

Monocle is still in the market for a new London HQ and our feature on the perfect modern workplace has got editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé dreaming of what it might look like. Anyone for karaoke?