With an exhibition of his artwork of war-torn Afghanistan opening at the Imperial War Museum North, artist and illustrator George Butler received a visit from Monocle films. His ink-and watercolour scenes bring a new depth to reportage more often the preserve of combat photographers.

In a war zone, even the hotels are targets. Monocle visits three high-risk hotels, including the Corinthia in Tripoli where nine people were killed in an attack last year.

Monocle travelled to northern Norway for an exclusive insight into Cold Response, Nato's gruelling cold-weather military training exercise.

Serbia's recovery from the disasters of nationalism has been slow but sporting success offers a new vision of what it means to be a Serb. Monocle films travels to Belgrade to meet the future stars of tennis and football.

Military action tends to have a more visceral impact when it comes to forcing through change but it is the subtle influence of soft power that drives the most meaningful resolutions. In our fifth annual survey we gauge the soft-power strengths of our top-ranking nations.

The UN Security Council is the iconic roundtable heart of diplomacy that decides when to act on some of the globe’s most pressing issues. But is the historic body still fit for purpose? We paid a visit to its HQ to find out.

Take a look inside Toronto's iconic City Hall and discover how its creation almost 50 years ago signalled the start of a modern metropolis.

A nation defining its identity - or architectural vandalism? We head to the capital of North Macedonia to investigate the controversial building project.

Finding the measure of a city is as much about the intangibles that light up a community as the infrastructure keeping it going. We've sized up where the balance is best with our annual top 25.

Monocle takes a cinematic look at the top cities in our 2014 Quality of Life Survey. We spotlight Copenhagen at number one, Tokyo as our top Asian city and Vancouver leading the way in North America.