Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio. I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

The World Bank recently blessed Tanzania with classification as a middle income country

based on years of reports of strong economic growth. But we pick apart the numbers behind

those reports and there's definitely something that doesn't add up.

And the stunning ruins of the Acropolis loom over Athens. Locals are rightly proud of

the site. So when a hotel went up that blocked their view, petitions and lawsuits soon followed.

Now two floors of it have to be lopped off and other hotels' plans are on hold.

At first.

A decade ago Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmed Davitolou used to boast his country was on

good terms with everyone.

Police of engagement, less confrontation, less Tanz attitude, especially in the region.

He spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations.

We developed a principle in 2003 we declared zero problems with our neighbors and we made

a huge progress.

All that now seems a distant memory. Turkey is growing its international influence and

not always with a light touch. The country has been backing Libya's government in its civil

war. Last month the Turkish Defence Minister landed in Libya to inspect his troops and

an opposition warlord warned them to get out or else.

Turkey prompted an angry statement from Egypt last week by allegedly planning gas exploration

in Egyptian waters. And yesterday Turkish officials railed against an American company

for its dealings with ethnic Kurds in neighboring Syria that Turkey believes to be terrorists.

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