European Commission President José Manuel Barroso was right. Had the European Union instead of the United States fallen into partial government shutdown, the world would not have hesitated to use this as an opportunity to berate Europe and its influence as a global leader. The trade in caricatures about the EU is a favourite past time. World leaders stand ready to offer free advice to European governments and institutions that they see as having no capacity to lead.

Sweden and Switzerland have launched a joint campaign to help Chinese tourists tell the two countries apart. While the mix-up isn't solely a problem for the Chinese, it has become a particular issue for those from the Asian nation because both countries' names are written similarly in Mandarin — Ruidian (Sweden) and Ruishi (Switzerland) — and begin with the same symbol.

With a preschooler at home, I don't get out much. I get out to a lot of parks, but art openings or the theater? Unfortunately, never. Still, to be new in Paris, with some of the world's best museums, designer clothes shops, and gallery exhibitions all around me, at least I can partake in a buzzing cultural vibe.

Back in June, the Greek government tried and failed to shut down ERT, the country’s equivalent of the BBC. At the time, not particularly enthused about the prospect of losing their jobs en masse, the newly unemployed journalists and technicians occupied the station's studios and continued broadcasting 24/7 via the internet. The staff managed to hold on to the building for an incredible five months, until—acting on the orders of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras—riot police entered the building in a pre-dawn raid on Thursday and escorted everyone outside.

A little caviar and a lot of oil goes a long way. In recent years, Baku has spent millions of dollars to persuade politicians in Europe and the United States that the oil-rich Caucasus country is a reliable partner -- and to distract them from criticism that the country is authoritarian and fails to respect fundamental human rights.

In 2010, I returned to London to meet again with the nation-branding consultants I had interviewed three years earlier. I expected to encounter a very different portrait of the field from the one that had been painted for me a few years earlier. Aftershocks from the global financial crisis of 2008 – 2009 continued to make themselves felt, upending the foundations of market value.