Picking up the pieces in the Middle East, trying to make its voice heard in the war on terror, under pressure to do much more to sort out the problems of regions that were seen, in the past, as mere targets of trade opportunity all these demands are forcing Europeans to think how they might better orchestrate their dealings with the outside world.

ECONOMIST: Europe in the world

As new regulations clean up shipping fuels in order to improve air quality in coastal regions, that brightening effect will be reduced, adding to the world's warming in a sort of inadvertent reverse geoengineering.

ECONOMIST: Geoengineering