Analysis

Scotland last year showed how dramatic referendums can be. So what would an in-out vote on the EU be like? Chris Bowlby hears about fears, hopes - and plans already underway.

Lucy Ash explores the Russian military strategy of deception - maskirovka - from its use against invading Mongols in the 14th Century to the current crisis in Ukraine.

Mark Mardell forecasts how the world could change in 2015, aided by top BBC journalists Lyse Doucet, Carrie Gracie, Kamal Ahmed and Bridget Kendall.

Gordon Corera, the BBC Security Correspondent, examines how terrorists use the oxygen of publicity, how governments attempt to starve them of it, and the media response.

"I always buy this type of coffee." But is that decision one of principle -or just because you buy it each day? Nick Chater asks which matters more to us: precedent or principles?

How well has the government implemented its controversial welfare reforms? Have they been a vital check to a system spiralling out of control or - as some say - close to a fiasco?

What is a caliphate? What ideals does such an Islamic state embody - and how could or should it be implemented? Analysis consults a range of voices to explore how the concept has evolved and has been expressed over the centuries. Edward Stourton talks to historians, religious scholars and political thinkers who offer their perspectives on caliphates of the past, the revivalist rhetoric of the present and the beliefs shared by many Muslims about its future return. Contributors: Prof HUGH KENNEDY, School of Oriental and African Studies Sheikh RUZWAN MUHAMMAD, Sunni theologian and scholar REBECCA MASTERTON, Shia scholar Dr REZA PANKHURST, author, "The Inevitable Caliphate?" Dr CAROLINE FINKEL, author, "Osman's Dream: the History of the Ottoman Empire" Dr SALMAN SAYYID, Leeds University, author, "Recalling the Caliphate" Dr ABDOU FILALI ANSARY, Aga Khan University

Politicians love talking about families. But, asks Jo Fidgen, do they understand modern family life? And how far can or should the state change the way families live?

Robert Peston tests the arguments made by the authors of a new book who claim the financial crisis was caused by exploding household debt - not by the banks. But are they right?

What should we eat? Jo Fidgen talks to the influential American writer Michael Pollan about what food is - and what it isn't. He says we should reconnect with what's on our plates.

The downturn's made everyone worry more about money. But while we may want to be thriftier, Chris Bowlby discovers why we're stuck with high personal and household debt.

Wages have fallen for most of us for the last six years in Britan, which is unprecedented. We’re told that there’s a return in economic growth and yet wages have still not picked up. What has happened? Is this a long term problem – is this the end of the pay rise? Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, explores the mystery of our falling wages and how wages are shared out between the top earners and the rest of us.

The World Wide Web is 25 years old. David Baker asks what we want from its next 25 years.

Why have the Tories attracted the label 'the nasty party'? Tory supporter Robin Aitken explores why the phrase took hold, and why it matters in key national debates today.

Can a country switch between different models of capitalism? The Economist's Britain politics correspondent, Jeremy Cliffe, explores whether the proposals put forward by some British politicians to transform the UK's economy into one more akin to that of Germany, Denmark and Sweden is remotely possible - or are we stuck with what we've got?