It is too early to write off Egypt's revolution. Unlike in the past, politics is now a live issue across the country, and that popular force is a difficult one to control or stop, and even the steps that have been taken now seemed impossible just over a year ago.

 

With Europe and much of the West facing a seemingly painful decline, attention continues to shift to the BRICS and the world's other rising powers. But are these countries overplaying their hands as the cracks begin to show in their economic virility?

 

Poland learned from its World War Two experiences and changed its military policy, ditching the cavalry. Now Warsaw, along with the other states that are pushing for a European military headquarters, must learn from more recent history – notably the Libya intervention – and abandon this latest outdated plan in favour of a CSDP that will actually be effective.

 

Egypt will struggle to progress towards democracy unless some form of military reform takes place. The first challenge is to make sure that any moves towards reform are palatable to the entrenched interests of Military Inc.

 

Since her apppointment 18 months ago, Catherine Ashton has been a useful scapegoat for European leaders and officials keen to point the finger of blame for the EU's foreign policy failures. Some of those people should take a more critical look at themselves.

 

Comparisons between the Arab Spring and 1989 are hollow if European leaders fail to rethink their approach towards those fleeing unrest. The EU now has a chance to rethink its approach to the Middle East and North Africa, but it needs the "Club Med" member states that know the region best to engage.

Bin Laden and his ideology were mortally wounded not yesterday in a house in Abbottabad, but months ago in the streets of Cairo, when the young Muslims of the Middle East got a new, democractic and liberal, narrative.

Wars are easy to start, hard to fight, and often harder still to end. Learning the right lessons from past wars, recent and old ones, is absolutely key. In Libya the international community must also keep its focus on political rather than military aims.

 

The West is finally ramping up its response to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s murderous last stand, but it must go further. World leaders must act to make Gaddafi’s demise inevitable, for the sake of the Libyan people, the revolutions elsewhere in the region and the West itself.

Europe must do what it can to ensure a healthy birth for democracy in Egypt, and elsewhere. It is still unclear how the situation there will unfold, and the EU would be taking a risk by putting itself firmly in the pro-deomcracy camp. But the risks of not doing so are greater.

Albania is teetering on the brink of catastrophe, fuelled by the rivalry between prime minister and opposition leader. The EU must make clear to them that it will not tolerate the use of violence, or the destruction of Albania's institutions.

Richard Holbrooke, the veteran US diplomat who died this week aged 68, had a reputation for being brash and abrasive. But he was perhaps the best Secretary of State that his country never had.

Just as France maintained links with its former colonies in Central Africa, Moscow has maintained ties with the former Soviet Republics in Central Asia. In light of the recent violence in its backyard nation of Kyrgyzstan, what lessons can Russia learn from France?s experience in Central Africa?

Pre-occupied with its financial troubles, the EU is no longer paying attention to the Western Balkans. As a result it is losing credibility and influence in a region that may slide back towards instability.

Forget reputations. Britain's new coalition government of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats will temper its foreign policy approach with a healthy dose of pragmatism.