Dilma Rousseff has narrowly beat out the center-right candidate Aecio Neves in Brazil’s presidential election. But Rousseff’s gain could be Brazil’s loss as her Worker’s Party enters its fourth consecutive term of presidential power.

ISIS is attacking Lebanon’s border, and meanwhile, gaining influence among the country’s Sunnis. With dissent in the national army, poor finances, and Hezbollah’s all-in support for Assad, Lebanon is trying to prevent the Syrian Civil War from becoming a Lebanese Civil War.

The U.S.-Arab anti-ISIS coalition has invoked fresh worries about the potential for conflicts between values and interests. It doesn’t have to be this way; in many cases, a closer partnership presents opportunities to encourage political and social change in Arab countries.

Ukraine’s elections have confirmed the country’s desire to continue on its course for integration with the West. But the road ahead is long and difficult, with oligarchs whose interests don’t include transparency and accountability still holding overwhelming power in the country.

Market factors made it inevitable that China’s monopoly on rare earth element production would be temporary.

China and Iran both say that they want their militaries to work more closely together. The world’s revisionist powers will only keep seeking to overturn the structures of the global world order.

China’s plans to roll out its vaunted BRICS development bank are not going very well, because its foreign policy cannot have one foot in the door of the liberal world order, and one foot out.

Environmentalists tend to paint a grim portrait of a future, in which humanity’s quest for growth leads to widespread environmental devastation. But the ongoing transition to an information economy suggests that a different and altogether more hopeful future awaits.

Colorado’s tax revenue from pot sales is lower than expected, causing its Governor to suggest that other states ought to re-think legalization for tax purposes. Meanwhile, some Colorado voters are having second thoughts about legalization.

A regional accreditor has just approved a new competency-based Masters program at the University of Michigan. This is one of the first programs of its kind at a public institution, and more than 300 schools will soon be experimenting with similar degrees.