It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. My 2012 started here in my beautiful little Dutch village chatting with my nice Dutch neighbours amid the clatter of many thousands of burning Euros being shot into the sky or exploding in brief, bright and brilliant suns.

It wasn’t exactly Page 1 news last month when Turkey responded to a Congressional committee labeling the murder of Armenians a century ago “genocide” by freezing its diplomatic, defense and energy ties to the U.S.  

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton returned home from Brazil unable to secure cooperation on increased pressure against Iran's nuclear program.  Nick Gvosdev says we shouldn't be surprised — and that the ramifications go far beyond this one vote.

Are the BRICs and other emerging powers of the G-20 ready for Prime Time? To a considerable degree, global stability and prosperity over the coming decades may depend on the answer to that question.

Just three weeks ago, the International Olympics Committee signaled that a new era in international affairs had finally begun. By eliminating Chicago a personal appeal by President Obama, the IOC subtly told the United States that its unipolar moment was over.

It was overshadowed not least by revelations of a new secret Iranian enrichment facility. But in the fullness of time, decisions taken at the Pittsburgh G-20 Summit contain the seeds of what may evolve into a reshaping of the global order.

Medvedev and Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for a summit of the emerging market BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) to take place in Russia in 2009.  Reuters reported: