As things continue to heat up at the top of the world (at press time Russia was sending large numbers of bombers over the Arctic to tease Norwegian interceptors), Monocle continues its tour of the High North with a stop in Greenland and reflects on a lost opportunity by the Canadians.

In the second part of our series looking at the scramble for resources and power in the Arctic, Monocle travels to Greenland. Despite the melting ice threatening traditional Inuit life, some of its people are also surprisingly enthusiastic about the changes global warming could bring.

Recent high-profile security lapses and safety concerns have damaged the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency’s standing. Aware of its PR failings, the body has launched a hunt to find the nuclear industry’s most beautiful employee. But can Miss Atom overturn her industry’s ugly reputation?

Is donating 100 sculptures to Oslo a wonderful gift or just a way of imposing bad taste on the public? Wealthy Norwegian Christian Ringnes, 53, is causing controversy in the city with his plans to create a €30m park filled with sculptures of women. While most people and politicians in Oslo seem quite pleased with the idea, the art world has been up in arms, slamming the concept as “hideous”, “uninteresting”, “outdated” and “banal”. But Ringnes has hit back, explaining: “I have become rich on property in Oslo. Now it’s time for me to give something back.”

When Walid Ataya left Lebanon for Dubai after last summer’s war, he never imagined that a year later he would be back. “I was offered a salary three times more than I was making in Beirut,” he says. “The decision to go was easy.” But the 44-year-old lawyer soon found that after housing and schooling for his children, he had less disposable income than he had at home. “I knew Dubai was expensive,” he shakes his head ruefully, “but I had no idea it would be that expensive.”

Chinese contemporary artist Yue Minjun may command millions for his paintings overseas but at home he is dogged by a growing trade in cheap copies of his work. While Microsoft, Louis Vuitton and Hollywood studios have been among the most vocal victims of Chinese counterfeiting, the country’s creative talents are also feeling its effects.

Eighteen months ago, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao had a vision: “I have a dream to provide every Chinese, especially children, [with] sufficient milk each day,” he said. And in New Zealand, where serving children copious daily quantities of milk, cheese and ice cream counts as a patriotic duty, the “Cow Cockies” quietly congratulated the Chinese on their good sense – and themselves on their good fortune.

Bolivia’s two main cities La Paz and Sucre each want to be the country’s sole seat of government, setting up a showdown at a critical time. President Evo Morales has convened an assembly to rewrite the constitution to give more rights to the poor Indian majority but a battle over a proposal to move the capital from sprawling La Paz in the west to Sucre in the east threatens to derail the process. Work was suspended in August after violent protests erupted outside the assembly meeting and the issue could impact the draft’s December deadline.

Alaska’s youngest governor, Sarah Palin, is taking US politics by storm. Her anti-corruption drives have found astonishing success – her approval rating is at 90 per cent. Now Rudy Giuliani is rumoured to want her as his presidential running mate.

The Tajik-Afghan border is one of the most dangerous in the world because of its central role in the heroin trade and potential as a smuggling route for WMDs. Can it ever be tamed? Well, the US, Iran, the EU and China are all here busy trying to help – but why?

Rwanda’s capital Kigali is fast becoming East Africa’s communications hub. Foreign investment and a culture of anti-corruption are behind the boom. Monocle watches a city log on.

Starbucks opened its first café in Russia in September, after a decade of trying. Last year, the company won a court case that finally gave it the right to use its trademark, which was bought up by a crafty Moscow lawyer five years ago.“Starbucks is very positive about Russia,” says company spokesperson Kerry Irwin. However, she is coy about revealing the company’s plans beyond the first café, which will be located in Moscow’s Mega shopping mall.

Al Jazeera English is the first English-language 24-hour news and current affairs channel from the Middle East. It launched in November 2006 alongside the orginal Al Jazeera. The channel is based in Doha, Qatar, with broadcast hubs in Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC, plus 18 bureaux. It has a global satellite and cable audience of 80 million and employs 700 staff.

An epidemic is threatening 1.2 billion people. Let’s be grateful then for people like Kimmo Alkio, CEO and president of F-Secure, who aims to stamp out the modern-day blight of spam email and also comes to the rescue when whole nations are under cyber attack.

Lumberjacks are finding themselves at the forefront of the climate change debate as ‘biomass’ (that’s burning wood chips to you and me) becomes a buzzword for the environmental movement. Monocle visited one of the largest forestry fairs in Europe to find out why wood is good.

The average per capita income is just €2,570, the country is plagued by honour killings and is a haven for car thieves. And then there’s its grim past as a communist fiefdom. But it has one major asset that outsiders want: its largely undeveloped coastline. Buy now and you could be king of the sandcastles by next summer.

For years Danish fishermen have dredged the country’s waters for mussels to be frozen or canned. But now environmentally aware pioneers are growing the molluscs on lines and selling their fresh produce to people willing to shell out for a gourmet delicacy.

As the music industry is forced to evolve in the face of digitalisation and online sales, one radio station stands out. Monocle meets Germany’s pioneering Motor FM, providing an output for underground music in a precarious media.

Patrick Watson are a new band named after their frontman, Patrick Watson. Fortunately, this is the only failure of imagination exhibited on their excellent debut, Close To Paradise. Perhaps hailing from Montréal – the bottomless pit of talent that’s given us Arcade Fire and Besnard Lakes (to say nothing of the Wainwright clan) – fires the band to such heady heights. Wintery pianos that wash into lush meadows of melancholy are cheered by oompah marching bands and swirling samples and sweetened by banjo and rootsy guitar – all delivered in a Jeff Buckley falsetto.

Belgium may be a small country of just 10.5 million people but it’s home to a powerful media empire that understands its market’s every desire. Monocle meets its co-owner and CEO Christian Van Thillo, who took the helm fresh out of college.

“This is one of the first literary cafés in Porto,” boasts Antero Braga, a veteran of the book industry for 38 years and manager of Lello since 1994. Despite being over 100 years old, Lello is still breaking new ground. There is a steady stream of tourists strolling through the store; taking pictures, talking in hushed tones, marvelling at the decorative Brazilian wood-carved interior and stained glass.

Salim Amin is determined to launch A24, the first pan-African news channel. He says he wants to report both the bad and the good things about the likes of Robert Mugabe. And he follows in big footsteps: his father was Mo Amin, the great news photographer killed in 1996 when he was on a hijacked plane that crashed into the Indian Ocean.

Tadao Ando is one of the most respected architects in the world. Working against Japan’s ‘rip down and rebuild’ architectural policy, he is now burying structures underground, planting trees and wondering if it’s simply time architects stopped creating new buildings.

Bringing the spotlight back on the side table is Articolo, a new internet retailer based in New York. Co-founded by Emanuela Frattini Magnusson in collaboration with Carl Gustav Magnusson the former design director of Knoll, the company’s debut collection has been created by designers such as Ross Lovegrove and James Irvine

Spain’s northwestern coast is guarding a design secret, one that Monocle has decided to share. Sargadelos is a workers’ cooperative that has been producing exquisite ceramics on and off for 200 years.

Riva may be one of the most respected brands afloat but as recently as 1999 it was sinking. Now with new owners at the helm, the brand is hoping to become the Riviera’s runabout of choice.

When Nicolas Graas revamped Hermès Luxembourg, he ended up living above the shop. Well, Lionel Jadot’s design does show off the occasional flash of an Hermès orange box to perfection.

Shopping trips to Marunouchi usually leave us laden with bags and gasping for refreshment. We now have a new venue to rest our weary heads – or at least imbibe a reviving cocktail. Glowing like a lantern, the new Peninsula Tokyo – 24-storeys high and the first free-standing hotel to open in Tokyo in a decade – is all about location.

At Monocle, Saturday nights have trumped Fridays for a good old-fashioned, informal knees-up at home with friends, good food, a great media line-up and enough grog to send your guests on their merry way.

Bassam Ghraoui and his workers defy the Syrian heat to produce exquisitely packaged, award-winning chocolates and fondants. We join them to find out why, for Ghraoui, the future is orange.

Taiwan has been out on a limb, diplomatically, for the past 35 years but that hasn’t stopped its capital Taipei from thriving. It’s a blend of Chinese, Japanese and indigenous Taiwanese influences with friendly residents and some of the best food in Asia.

When Knud W Jensen, founder of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art died in 2000, successor Poul Erik Tøjner moved into his beachfront office, a former boat lacquery crammed with vintage Danish design. After initial doubts, today Tøjner worships his sea view and invites us to lunch, a classic yet modern take on the Danish smørrebrød.

Tell us something new: Broadcasters, publishers, and legislators take note – offering a broader view of the world not only reflects the direction other sectors are heading but is a good way to shake up tired business models and give the market something it desperately deserves.

It’s a short drive from the sleek corniche in Beirut to the bountiful souk in Damascus but the residents of these two great cities eye each other with a distinct lack of neighbourly affection. It doesn’t help when you­­­ suspect your Syrian cousins of assassinating your politicians and trying to undermine your delicate democracy. But there are other regional tensions at play on the road – bridges bombed by Israel, and the Hizbollah posters make that clear. Monocle navigates the pockmarked highway – and takes the region’s temperature