The appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new Supreme Leader represents one of the most consequential political shifts in the Islamic Republic in more than three decades. For the first time since the 1979 Revolution, supreme authority has passed directly from father to son. The Assembly of Experts confirmed Mojtaba around a week after the killing of his father, Ali Khamenei, in a US-Israeli strike that wiped out a substantial portion of Iran’s senior leadership. With that decision, days of speculation over a possible vacuum at the summit of power were brought to a close, at a moment when Iran had already entered a major war.

Who is Iran's new Supreme Leader? How was he shaped, and what ideas define him? What is his relationship with Iran’s institutions? What scenarios lie ahead for the country? And what form will the day after the war take?

Putin's Secret Services

[caption id="attachment_55256796" align="alignnone" width="940"] Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with local Federal Security Service (FSB) special forces officers during a…

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Vanishing Borders in the South China Sea

[caption id="attachment_55256792" align="alignnone" width="940"] DigitalGlobe imagery (overview) of the Fiery Cross Reef located in the South China Sea. Fiery Cross is located in the western part of…

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U.S.-Canadian Relations on the Rocks

[caption id="attachment_55256786" align="alignnone" width="940"] U.S. President Donald Trump (R) extends his hand to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada during a meeting in the Oval Office at the…

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Why Moderates Support Extreme Groups

[caption id="attachment_55256783" align="alignnone" width="940"] Members of the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, part of the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary units, carry flags in front of portraits of fellow…

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What "America First" Will Cost Europe

[caption id="attachment_55256706" align="alignnone" width="940"] European and US Flag (Getty Images).[/caption] By Jeremy Shapiro The new U.S. ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, is quickly…

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A Tale of Two Photos

[caption id="attachment_55256611" align="alignnone" width="940"] China, September 7, 1901, Boxer Rebellion, The signing of the 'Peking Protocol' by the plenipotentiaries, at the Spanish legation. …

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The Pro-Assad Alliance Is Coming Apart

[caption id="attachment_55256604" align="alignnone" width="940"] Syria's President Bashar al-Assad during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin (not in picture) at Bocharov Ruchei…

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