Rama V (1868-1910) inherited his father's diplomatic skills and encouraged the beginnings of a modern state, with good communications and an education system that eventually led to the revolt of the middle classes.

ECONOMIST: Kriangsak Chomanan

That's because the iPhone's severe design isn't about aesthetics: it's a solution to the very modern problem of how to combine computing, communications and mobility in a single device, says Mark Rolston, chief creative officer at Frog Design, which has worked on projects from Logitech devices to online services for Blockbuster (nyse: BBI - news - people ).

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