The future of North Korea has rightly received greater attention following the sudden death of Kim Jong Il in December, and my colleagues and I have written about latest developments extensively on Business Monitor Online. In fact, we have been talking about the succession process and outlining scenarios for the country’s evolution for some years… [Read more]

It’s only Tuesday and two key things have happened in China already this week. Xi’s Got The Look… The first was Vice President Xi Jinping’s appointment to the post of vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC). This was no surprise, for Xi has long been considered the heir-apparent to succeed Hu Jintao as Communist… [Read more]

The next nine months could very well determine Egypt’s political trajectory for years to come, as the ongoing power struggle over who will take over from President Hosni Mubarak gathers steam. Given the president’s faltering health, the lack of a clear successor, widespread opposition (both within government and the population at large) to a transfer… [Read more]

Russia is currently in the midst of a political transition that has already seen or will soon see several veteran regional leaders retire. Until 2004, Russia’s regions had direct elections for presidents and governors, as is the case in the US. However, after the Beslan school siege in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, then-president (and… [Read more]

There’s been renewed speculation about the 2012 Russian presidential election of late, with both incumbent Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin both hinting that they could run. If both do so, then there could be a genuinely competitive race for the first time since 1996. The Medvedev-Putin double-act was always a bit awkward. Putin… [Read more]