On 17 June I chaired a discussion on Iran at Chatham House, writes Lindsey Hilsum. The three experts - Ali Ansari of St Andrew's University, Sharam Chubin of the Carnegie Endowment and Arshin Adib-Moghaddam of Soas - were optimistic about the new president, Hassan Rouhani, and what he might do.
[Western governments] seem to believe that by arming the rebels they will somehow persuade President Assad to come to the negotiating table, whereas what we've seen throughout this conflict is that every time the rebels have made some kind of gains, the outside powers that support Assad's regime have just responded with more weapons, says Christopher Phillips.
Some people are worried that Britain has been failing to produce big ideas that policymakers can use. They want to convert academic ideas into policy relevance and shake up the bureaucrats. Phillip Blond, who recently wrote a controversial article in Chatham House's magazine, is one of them.
I think everybody accepts that having a fully multi-lateral, universal trade deal is the best option. But that seems to be unattainable at the moment, says Stephen Pickford.
If car safety standards are harmonised then it will lead to potential gains for car manufacturers in the US, the EU and beyond, says Davide Tentori.
This [court ruling] is definitely going to drive a wedge between people in the opposition, said Jane Kinninmont.
While I do think Rowhani's election will be a good sign for those in the West hoping for reform, particularly a new approach diplomatically, I think we do need to be realistic and cautious, says Sasan Aghlani.
It was the cotton trade that brought the first Syrians to the UK in the 19th century, and members of the community still own factories in northern cities such as Bradford and Leeds, according to Nadim Shehadi.
Fadi Hakura said that the protests are a way of critics of Erdogan venting their opposition to his Islamic conservative reforms, in a nation, which whilst mainly Muslim, has an established secular tradition.
Following the abrupt cancellation last week of planned talks in Seoul between the two Koreas - what would have been the first formal bilateral ministerial negotiations since 2007 - it remains unclear what the prospects are for an improvement in ties, writes John Swenson-Wright.
'Two years ago people would say that the G8 was on its way out,' said Robin Niblett. 'The G8 is rediscovering a little of its mojo, having been put to in the shadows by the postcrisis centrality of the G20 at a time when we needed everyone to pull together.'
'Already, price volatility of resources is the new normal,' Bernice Lee told BBC News.
In May, US Secretary of State John Kerry became the latest victim of Russia's hard diplomacy, writes James Sherr.
What has been defined by some as a low-profile set of objectives lacking ambition and 'visionary' spirit, is actually quite pragmatic, but it will not be easy to achieve, writes Davide Tentori.
The UK Foreign Office urged Dr Rowhani to set Iran on a different course for the future, addressing international concerns about Iran's nuclear programme and addressing the political and human rights situation for the people of Iran. I believe that sums up what European concerns and expectations are, writes Richard Dalton.
The Austrians' decision [to withdraw peacekeeping troops] might look like a storm in a teacup... However, it has far reaching implications regarding the way Israel views the role of the UN peacekeeping mission on its borders and their role in future peace agreements with her neighbours, writes Yossi Mekelberg.
A lot of the issues that they want to tackle are really quite difficult to tackle without the emerging markets being involved. Nevertheless, it's possible for the G8 to show a bit of a leadership role and to try to move things along, stated Stephen Pickford.
Overall I think the danger of what's going on in Turkey is that the really uncompromising style of leadership that we see with the prime minister vis-à-vis the demonstrators might spill over into economic policy-making and that would be very, very dangerous for Turkey, says Fadi Hakura.
Jaako Kooroshy said: 'Governments' negotiating power has weakened quite a bit because the sector is so much focused on cost-cutting. They are very reluctant to take on new, risky greenfield projects and West African iron ore is as risky as it gets.'