Snapshots

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Snapshot,
Maria Lipman and Nikolay Petrov

The current protests in Moscow are too weak to radically change the country's politics by themselves. Nevertheless, they will continue to erode Putin's legitimacy. Even if he wins the March 4 election, he will not enjoy the same monopoly on power that he used to.

Snapshot,
Hossein Mousavian

Two schools of thought dominate Iran's foreign policy-making; the first holds that Iran and the United States can reach a compromise through negotiations, the second that Washington is not a reliable partner. By pushing new sanctions and reneging on engagement, Washington has proved the second school right.

Snapshot,
Shannon K. O'Neil

There are now three candidates for Mexico's July 1 presidential election, but it is Josefina Vázquez Mota’s place on the ticket that has the potential to upend the future of the country's politics. Unlike her two challengers, who are linked to the old guard and old boys' network, as a woman Vázquez Mota can claim to be the mantle of change, even against her own party.

Snapshot,
Samuel Gregg

The Vatican has recently made pointed calls for global financial reform, but the Church's teaching is grappling to accommodate the growing divergence between the immediate economic expectations of Catholics in developed European nations and those living in emerging economies.

Snapshot,
Afyare Abdi Elmi and Abdi Aynte

Somalia's government has recently made gains against the militant group al Shabaab. But those will prove fleeting if it does not find a way to address the organization's grievances and bring moderates into the fold.

Snapshot,
Dmitri Trenin

Russia vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council to end the violence in Syria because it feels burned by last year's international intervention in Libya, and it harbors suspicions about the motives of the United States.

Snapshot,
Bronwyn Bruton and J. Peter Pham

By some measures, the ad-hoc alliance among Ethiopia, Kenya, and the African Union has come close to defeating the terrorist group al Shabaab. But a military victory could scatter the group's most radical leaders across the Horn of Africa.

Snapshot,
Joseph Cirincione

Shortly after taking office, Obama traveled to Prague to lay out a vision of a world "free of nuclear weapons." Now the Pentagon has prepared a top-secret memo for the White House, and the president has to decide whether to maintain or shrink the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Now he must decide whether he will uphold the principles he once preached.

Snapshot,
Barbara Elias-Sanborn

If confirmed, Mehsud's death could cause the Pakistani Taliban to break apart. Several actors, including the Pakistani government, the Afghan Taliban, and al Qaeda, appear ready to step in and mediate between factions. In every scenario, fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan would become more difficult.

Snapshot,
Andrew S. Natsios

In an attempt to one-up Khartoum, the newly independent South Sudan has twisted its oil spigot closed. But a shuttered oil sector is just the beginning of Omar al-Bashir's problems: Juba sees him as weak, a new alliance of fighters in the east is plotting to overthrow him, and Sudan's economy is in tatters.

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