EU member states' intelligence services are among the most jealously-guarded national assets despite five decades of integration. But two European Commission-sponsored projects on open source intelligence (Osint) are beginning to change the culture of mistrust.

At the end of this century’s first decade, we can observe how the locus of power has shifted in world politics. The G20 is replacing the G7 as the overseer of the global economy. The need to restructure the U.N. Security Council to be more representative of the international order is profoundly pressing. And emerging powers such as Brazil, India, Turkey, and others are playing very assertive roles in global economic affairs.

When I came to Brussels just over three years now, European Politicians were not on Facebook, election ads were not made or broken by one’s twitter adeptness and no one in the European Commission had been told that any of these should be an option.

A young French Member of the European Parliament is leading the charge. Advocates hope that the increased use of social networking will get younger Europeans interested in what happens in Brussels.

Freshly-published cables from the US mission to the Vatican have shed light on the inner workings of Europe's most secretive diplomatic corps, including the Pope's opposition to Turkey's EU membership, hopes for Polish influence inside the EU and church ideas on how to undermine the Castro administration in Cuba.

President Ma Ying-jeou says that the European Union's decision to waive visa requirements for Taiwanese visitors is the best validation of the island's soft power. The president was speaking in a meeting with Harvard University Professor Joseph Nye on Wednesday.

The objective of culture is no longer only to create art or literature. "Cultural Diplomacy" is increasingly being used as a vehicle to promote liberal democratic values and to foster "democracy and participation", says Dutch Liberal member Marietje Schaake (ALDE), who last week presented her report on cultural diplomacy. We spoke to her and asked her about her report.