Whatever happens, Eritrea is unlikely to be able to resume its role as entrepot between Ethiopia and the world.

ECONOMIST: Eritrea and Ethiopia at doubtful peace

It wants the Turks, by winning a good share of Caucasian pipelines, to serve as an entrepot for Caspian oil and gas.

ECONOMIST: The Caucasus

Following the 1997 handover, China became the third-largest user of the canal, after the United States and Japan, and now accounts for 20% of the cargo entering the Colon Free Zone, a huge trading entrepot.

ECONOMIST: A game of trade and aid

But the suffering of Lebanon's Shias, combined with Hizbullah's effectiveness at both fighting and rebuilding, hugely strengthened the party's claim to leadership of a country that, in its vision, aspired to be a bastion of resistance to the West rather than a cosmopolitan entrepot.

ECONOMIST: How gratitude turned to suspicion