Nicolas Sarkozy will soon announce whether he will attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics. He should definitely go.

The Paris conference this week is a "last-chance" saloon for Afghanistan and donor governments.

The Afghan opium economy continues to grow. To have any chance of success, international efforts need to focus on security and bringing criminal kingpins to justice through a specialised UN court.

The assasination attempt on Hamid Karzai should prompt a re-think of the international community's Afghan policy.

During his upcoming visit to China, EC President Barroso will need to convince the Chinese leadership to begin talks with the Dalai Lama.

EU governments should put concrete demands to the Chinese government, including a comprehensive review of its Tibet policy.

European leaders need to follow France and Poland's example and take a tougher line on China, with real political threats, if the situation in Tibet does not improve.

Kai Eide's appointment as the UN envoy in Kabul provides an opportunity to craft a new international strategy for Afghanistan and the region.

The events shaking the wider Tibetan area should lead both the Chinese government and its international partners to a deep reconsideration of past policies.

The EU needs to act to ensure that China does not use violence to put down protests in Tibet, but engages the Dalai Lama in real dialogue.

A new propaganda offensive by China on its activities in Africa provides an opening for the West. We should use this to persuade China to take responsibility for its impact in Africa.

European defence chiefs should help improve the EU's lacklustre performance in Afghanistan

Spielberg was right to step down but governments should look at China's policies within a historical context, and have a strategy for influencing Beijing beyond the summer of 2008.

In the past few years, almost all of East Asia's fully fledged democracies have changed leadership - but this has gone rather unnoticed by European observers who focus on China alone.

China is emerging not just as an economic giant, but as a powerhouse of ideas about politics, economics and world order. Its own model of globalisation could re-shape much of the world.