The BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa - have decided to set up their own development bank to rival the World Bank. This initiative is not happening in a vacuum.

The Falklands Referendum of March 2013 owes much to Margaret Thatcher. She created and maintained a political orthodoxy which remains unchallenged today. Every subsequent British government has publicly reaffirmed the right of the Falklands community to self-determine their future.

The legacy of the referendum will be much more difficult to predict than the voting itself. For the Falkland Islanders, they have both reaffirmed the status quo but also prepared the ground for possible future referenda, which might one day include independence as an option.

Azerbaijan stands out as the only former Soviet republic that can neither be described as pro-Russian or pro-Western.

The financial sector is preoccupied with the potential break-up of the eurozone. Yet the dramatic developments in the Middle East and North Africa (together called MENA) could lead to turmoil in the markets.

This year, the elites in Davos - debating the future of capitalism - faced a little more self-doubt than usual as to whether they have the best ideas to run the world, not least in the face of the intractable euro crisis. But the future of capitalism is just one big global challenge among many facing today's world including climate change, poverty, conflict, instability and oppression.