With a pivotal geographic location, a vibrant media culture uniting both Asian and European markets and a flourishing defence sector, Australia is in a prime position to become a new, fresh-faced regional power.

There’s more to Darwin than cyclones and crocodiles. A young population, a gas deal, a vibrant Asian culture and now a base for US Marines are changing its outback image.

Hungary has become the bête noir of Europe as fears grow that its government has a rather loose grasp of democracy. It shouldn’t be like this. The country has the talent and heritage to sell Brand Magyar to the world.

Fine fleeces /Having faltered during the 1990s, the Australian Merino wool industry is seeing a resurgence on the back of a growing luxury market in China and it’s proving a welcome boost to Brand Australia along the way.

High taxes and rigid regulation have made it a tough sell for Japan’s artisan beer makers. But increasingly astute drinkers are starting to appreciate the superior quality product micro-breweries have to offer.

Poland’s cluster of aviation companies balances local expertise with heavy foreign investment. Monocle flew in to see the collaboration.

Mapmaking is an art unto itself, an intricate task of recording the most minute details and, more importantly, interpreting the world for tourists and travellers. But they’re also open to manipulation – once the politicians get involved.

Broadcasting in 60 languages on the radio and with 27 foreign-language TV news programmes each week, SBS is a truly international news outlet – an unusual epithet in the world of Australian media.

Since 1880 Horgenglarus has made furniture using time-honoured techniques. That’s why its classic, sturdy chairs are still in high demand in the Alpine nation, used by both parliament and the general public, and have become a byword for Swissness.

Midland Atelier is a design powerhouse that attracts people to train from all over the world and offers opportunities to local creative talent. In Western Australia, where mining is the major industry, it’s a breath of fresh air.

Pitti Uomo biannual menswear show is seen as a crystal ball for the fashion industry. Monocle visits to test the mood.

Neutrality and a stable currency help reinforce Switzerland’s image as a haven of tranquillity within Europe. The same could be said for the country’s high-end watchmakers, who at this year’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva seemed blissfully indifferent to the downgrades and debt crisis sweeping the continent.

London's mayoral election, shenanigans in the Spanish royal family, and why people are leaving Portugal.

Hugo Chávez and his gas-guzzling motorcade, Cuba spruces up its colonial buildings, and the view from Washington of the Republican presidential candidate campaign.

The sartorial preferences of North Korea's new Supreme Leader, the big ambitions of Seoul's Incheon airport, and a Q&A with the head of an Indian bicycle rental company.

Why Africa is frantically going green, Saudi Arabia is desperately building houses, and South Africa is learning to love fracking.

Eurozone citizens head to Australia, schools get tough on pupils in Micronesia, and the authorities investigate dolphin smuggling in the Solomon Islands.

Saudi's Arabia's big weapons spend and a personnel shortage in the Polish Army.

We meet ambassador Ido Aharoni, the Consul General of Israel to New York, and bring you the latest from the diplomatic world.

Urban farming in Chicago, Zimbabwe's women security guards and Japan's eco-billboards

Film, music and book reviews plus our culture editor Robert Bound looks at the value of good criticism

We meet the comic book publisher whose latest title is about Haiti's tent cities, plus other dispatches from the world of print, retail and audio.

Latest discoveries in clothes, footwear and retail ventures.

A run-through of the best in the world of design and design editor Hugo Macdonald's column on Rome's hands off policy.

Whether it be diplomacy or education, it’s time to challenge traditional thinking and shake things up. Monocle introduces five thinkers who are questioning conventional wisdom.

Kevin Rudd, Australia’s former prime minister and now foreign minister, talks to Monocle about engagement with Asia, defence spending and whether he wants his old job back.

Rosa Lladró is the president of Lladró, the Spanish porcelain company begun by her father and uncles in the 1950s. Having ducked a manufacturing downturn in Spain, she tells Monocle how to combine family and financial success.

Among the high-rises and inner city bustle of São Paulo, a new home offers quiet solitude while retaining openness. The V4 house from MK27 architects invites nature, the neighbourhood and Monocle to share its space.

We get spruced up at an 85-year-old traditional barber shop in a Tokyo suburb to bring you spring’s fresh outfits.

Monocle plays the sexy librarian among the microfiche, squeaky book trolleys and satisfyingly neat filing systems. Here’s the result of our meticulous research into women’s springwear.

Our March round-up of the things floating Monocle’s boat includes retro Swedish headphones, tastebud-tingling Swiss wine and the finest handmade Italian candles.

Going out in Sydney just got even better with new upstarts including a bike shop-cum-espresso outlet and a tequila bar.

Here are five of Melbourne’s newest off-the-radar bars and kitchens opened by young chefs, baristas, barkeepers and designers.

Intrepid travellers agree the only nuisance about a trip to the White Continent is getting there. But the faint-hearted can now bypass the sometimes violent Drake Passage by flying direct from Punta Arenas in Chile to the Antarctic Peninsula with DAP.

The Ajeto glassmaking factory makes one-off pieces to commission for artists and designers. Glass master and owner Petr Novotný believes this is the way forward for the industry – not mass production.

The Boston Society of Architects has moved in as have media companies, restaurateurs and developers. The red-brick warehouse-style lofts provide creative living and the rest of Boston is on the doorstep.

Roberto Panizza took over an old trattoria in the Ligurian capital last year and brought it back to its former glory. Here, he shares his passion (and recipes) for the regional speciality, pesto and gnocchi.

TV chef Kentaro Kobayashi is known for no-nonsense dishes and his show teaching men how to cook. Over a meal at his favourite Italian restaurant, he talks about his accidental route into becoming a chef.

The mining boom in Western Australia has seen both the natural and economic landscapes transformed. New services fly thousands of workers in and out each week. So Monocle went to dig a little deeper.

Five years ago Monocle hit the newsstands. Today it’s at the heart of a very modern media company – but also one with some old-school journalistic values. Here our editor in chief, Tyler Brûlé, looks back at his 25 highlights of life at the helm.