The European Union’s introspection in world affairs, and its shrinking ability to influence the outside world, does not mean that the outside world will leave it alone. Rising powers might soon be racing to invest in Europe, and shape its politics to suit their needs.

Whether or not the True Finns Party is part of a new government following Sunday's poll in Finland, its dramatic rise in recent months has changed the role that Europe will play in the country's elections from now on.

Morocco's heterogenerous protest movement wants “liberty, democracy and equality,” but that doesn't mean the end of the monarchy. The king's role in constitutional reform is problematic, but could also be part of the solution.

The UN's secretary-general and the EU's foreign policy chief have similar predecessors, styles and priorities – and a common need to find a voice.

'More for more', a central plank of the EU's updated neighbourhood policy, is a laudable concept. But it is difficult to define, let alone to implement. What really is more, and how do we get it from our neighbours?

A military solution to the Libyan crisis is unlikely, and even the most ardent members of the anti-Gaddafi coalition now accept the need to talk to his regime as part of an attempt to secure a negotiated settlement. Any Western-flagged peacekeeping mission, including one under an EU banner, now seems unlikely to be welcomed, and so diplomats at the UN should be discussing alternative options.

European countries are playing a central role in the Libyan intervention, and the EU is looking to help the transitions in Tunisia and Egypt. But before Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire, setting off the sequence of protests, how well did Europe perform when dealing with its southern neighbourhood last year?

It is too early to write obituaries for European foreign policy, argue Mark Leonard and Justin Vaïsse in this opinion piece for European Voice that draws on key themes that emerge from ECFR's European Foreign Policy Scorecard 2010.

Agreement over Europe's performance is not the aim of ECFR's European Foreign Policy Scorecard. The aim is to encourage serious debate about the goals, tools, resources, difficult trade offs and moral dilemmas of Europe's foreign policy - even if that means that readers strongly disagree with our conclusions.

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.

It is time to get real about Libya. All the huffing and puffing of Western leaders has yet to bring Gaddafi’s house crashing down. Instead, European leaders must think about what realistic outcomes they might be able to help achieve.

Outside mediators may eventually play a key role in ending the Libyan civil war, and if there is even a brief opportunity to talk Gaddafi into standing down, the international community must be ready to seize it. It should be thinking about who is best placed to do the talking.

Western military planners are examining options for deposing Gaddafi. But somebody also needs to think about an international peace operation to stabilise Libya, whether to oversee the dictator's negotiated exit or clean up afterwards. Could this be a role for a UN-mandated EU?

Europe's leaders cannot bear to face the reality exposed by the euro crisis: that more coordination will not work, and the choice must ultimately be between discarding the euro and taking the plunge into a federal structure. So, instead, they will drape their emperor of economic governance in new clothes when they meet later this month.

Events in Libya have forced China to bend its cherished principle of non-intervention – not least in order to rescue 35,000 of its citizens from the country. Is this the moment that Beijing steps onto the world stage as a great power?