Do too many diplomats and NGOs spoil a city? Brussels, Ottawa, Canberra and even DC have a lot to answer for in the dull stakes, but what’s a capital city to do? Become both an economic and administrative hub? Or simply work harder to raise excitement levels?

Thanks to substantial foreign investment and its status as the home of the African Union, the Ethiopian capital is positioning itself as Africa’s diplomatic hub. As the AU divides over how to expand its mandate, Addis is building a new image, and affirming its premiership in the powerful pan-continental body.

But only a third of countries have acknowledged it and the young state has no seat at the UN and is forbidden from playing in international football matches. However, in the capital, Pristina, they have a plan.

Canada welcomes the world this month as part of that national branding exercise called the Winter Olympics, but it is also tinkering with its multicultural self-image in one other notable way. For the first time in 15 years the country has revised its exam, and the corresponding study guide, for citizenship applicants.

Barack Obama may not yet have brought about as much change as promised, but he himself has certainly changed. He has learnt that he will have to fight dirty to get things done – and this means his first year in office can be deemed a success.

Why French bees love city life, Finland's broadband-for-all and we catch a glimpse of the motorcade of Bulgaria's prime minister, Boyko Borisov.

In a show of girl power, Egyptian women are fighting back against the bottom pinchers and gropers who plague the region: self-defence classes for women are becoming increasingly popular and karate classes especially so.

Bottled water from Korea's "no-man's land", Mickey Mouse lessons in China, and multi-lingual web domains.

Australians get the hump, Fiji loses its midwives and Aussie males get a bad reputation.

Germany is planning to build an innovative frigate that will be able to fight sustained wars against drug lords and pirates – or just help keep the peace. But it’s not only at sea that new designs and technologies are changing the defence landscape.

Once a roaring trade hub, Nepal is now among Asia’s poorest nations. But with huge hydroelectric potential and a prime spot between the world’s two fastest-growing economies, the Himalayan nation could soon regain some of its former glory.

As the finance minister in Zimbabwe’s government of national unity, Tendai Biti is trying to repair the economic damage inflicted by the Mugabe regime. He likens it to drowning in a sewer but is confident he can make a difference.

It was the perfect powdery snow blown in from Siberia that attracted the Aussie skiers. And when they decided to stay put and open hotels and cafés they kickstarted a small business and development boom in Niseko, a once sleepy town in Japan’s far north.

For our series investigating the secrets of success, Monocle visits Austrian company Doppler, Europe’s biggest manufacturer of quality umbrellas. Its top product has been handcrafted in the same way since the 1940s.

Extreme shopping in Japan's Don Quijote stores, and an innovative waste management system from Tel Aviv.

In this issue, for our World Cup series, we visit Puma, the sports brand that has become most associated with African football. As the competition heads to the continent, will Puma be the PR victor?

Pelican Products was founded by a diver who wanted to keep his equipment safe and now it makes protective cases for everyone from the military to the iPhone user. It’s expanded into ingenious lighting systems – and is making a healthy profit.

Like other state-owned mail services, Swiss Post is under pressure from private-sector competition and the internet, but it is not running scared. The firm is transforming itself into a media and technology brand.

Emilio Giannelli’s satirical cartoons on the front page of ‘Corriere della Sera’ unite the nation in laughter. He has become untouchable by Italy’s highly litigious politicians, including Silvio Berlusconi, who dare not mess with him.

Danish producer Thomas Troelsen is the mastermind behind some of the last decade’s catchiest pop songs. He puts his success down to his huge collection of vintage synthesisers and not caring about what is supposedly hip.

Originally published in 1947, this English translation of Hans Fallada’s German classic offers a bleak glimpse into daily life under the Nazis. Told through a thronging cast of sub-proletarian swindlers and survivors, the story centres on the unlikely dissidents Otto and Anna – a couple suddenly mobilised against the regime after their son dies.

MySpace Music has pioneered interactive pop promos in which fans can upload themselves into music videos by chosen artists, including Florence and the Machine, Alicia Keys and 50 Cent. Fans will appear statically: pictures on the wall, perhaps. Monocle is hoping to go retro and appear as the only well-groomed zombie in “Thriller".

The global marketplace isn’t short of economic indicators but none’s a more rapid read than hotel occupancy rates. With many predicting 2010 will still be tough going, we look at the managers, designers and concepts transforming the sector and rethinking the whole concept of hospitality. We also talk to a few informed guests.

Norwegian outerwear firm Norrøna opens its first retail outlet in Oslo and Kitsune pops up in Tokyo.

Tokyo Designers Week is a long-established annual event featuring two key fairs: 100% Design and DesignTide. Monocle visited at the end of last year and found a healthy ambition to champion fresh talent. Here’s our pick of the best newcomers.

The furniture made by the husband and wife team behind Truck is so popular that the couple have been able to move into stunning new premises complete with workshop, showroom and their own café serving steak and doughnuts.

Sombre, elegant and transparent, this is everything a courthouse should be. The winning design is by 3XN, Lemming & Eriksson Engineers and landscape designers Schønherr Landskab. The building is an extension to the existing neo-classical courthouse in Copenhagen and is due to be completed in 2012.

Unlike the usual identikit winter lodge, this remastered getaway in the French Alps is inventive – but its unique sense of style doesn’t detract from its homely charm.

It’s called the ‘art of inn-keeping’ for a good reason. If you’re not a natural host/designer/lighting director/logistician all rolled into one then you’ll need to spend years honing the craft of creating an environment where people will want to return again – and again.

Nutty about design? From teak toys to matchboxes to a help manual for budding designers, we have a selection of graphically and artistically superior products to tempt your fancy.

This month we’ve found a relaxed place to sip coffee in London, a cosy lodge for late-season Alpine skiing and the best fish supper in Rome.

In the first of a new series looking at some of the world’s more niche (read quirky) airlines we take a trip with the plucky Bearskin Airlines.

With a dream team of a Swiss R&D department, an Italian manufacturer and a professional skier to test the clothes, Mover produces high-quality, technical garments made for the slopes. Monocle pays a visit to its HQ.

Thailand’s artistic set are discovering the delights of this lively, but peaceful, residential neighbourhood, which takes the best of Bangkok life but tones it down a step. It has good transport links, plenty of galleries and restaurants and a new wave of entrepreneurial spirits.

As Monocle expands its food and drink coverage, we ask chefs, food pioneers and bar owners to take us on a tour of their culinary neighbourhood. First up is breadmaker Jean-Luc Poujauran, who has made a name for himself in his arrondissement and beyond – he supplies Michelin-starred restaurants with his specially made produce.

With the growing Latino population in the US and Europe, and following on the success of Häagen-Daz’s dulce de leche ice cream (now its most popular flavour after vanilla), there is growing demand outside of Latin America for its treasured dulce de leche.

For his ‘last meal’, food wouldn’t be the prime consideration for the head of the world-famous Château Musar vineyard, Serge Hochar. He would choose a special vintage white from his winery in Lebanon and enjoy it with some cheese and olives.

February is the perfect time to start new projects – how about that novel you’ve always meant to write? Actually, why think so small? How about a manifesto for shaking up a small nation, from overhauling the transport system to rethinking the hospitality industry? Editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé pulls up a seat at the drawing board.

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.