With the death of North Korea's "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il, understanding the country's succession process is central to divining the future of this anachronistic, frustratingly cryptic, and often deliberately menacing government.

Kim Jong Il's search for a successor could turn out to be bigger news than this weekend's missile launch.

It is looking more and more likely. But the United States can still push for democratic reforms.

Christian Alfonsi's book might sway conversation in a coffee shop, but it will appear silly to anyone ever involved in policy.

Today marks the first anniversary of the revolution that overthrew Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Oddly enough, many tears have been shed for the departed Mr. Mubarak—and not just tears from his military cronies, his business cronies, his family cronies, and the Israelis, who had gotten used to the devil they knew in Cairo.

Upon the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini led Friday prayers at Tehran University. His sermon would carry the weight of an American State of the Union address. With time, Khomeini and his successor Ali Khamenei designated a substitute prayer leader from amongst the regime hierarchy.

The American republic specifically disdains hereditary titles, yet our history is replete with politically prominent, multigenerational families: the Adamses, Roosevelts, Lodges, and Kennedys. And now, the Bushes. The Bush family, despite being into its third generation of public service, is only starting to receive the same kind of close...

Kim Jong-il's death perforce marks a turning point in modern Korean history. Not since Douglas MacArthur’s push toward the Yalu has the future of the North Korean regime been as uncertain as it is today.