We also need to understand the mechanics of Russian succession politics.

Now it is a Green, Fischer, who has emerged as the symbol of continuity and commitment in Germany's foreign policy.

5. Concurs, in accordance with article 13 of the Regulations of the Fund and with a view to securing continuity of pension rights

6. Concurs, in accordance with article 13 of the Regulations of the Fund and with a view to securing continuity of pension rights, with the following

Manu García, a supporter of the so called Bolivarian process led by Chávez over the last 14 years, appears to want continuity and change

And the question of royal succession also needs clarification as Thailand s constitutional monarchy navigates the uncertain path ahead.

While the decision by some in favor of dynastic succession may be lacking in democracy, it is not entirely devoid of merit.

One thing to be said for monarchs is that they provide people with a sense of continuity, which can be useful in times of crisis or radical change.

The victory of Parliament in Kuwait s succession crisis is likely to lead some of Kuwait s neighboring autocracies to stiffen their resolve against modernity and democracy.

In the early stages of this precarious succession, China has behaved as expected, trying to prop up the regime in order to ensure stability in its nuclear armed neighbor.

The origins of successor justice in the war means that the debate over its legitimacy overlaps with the broader schism over the intervention itself.

Clearly, the clerical elite is concerned about the future of its leadership after Khamenei. Should a succession process begin soon, it would significantly constrain Rouhani s room for maneuver.

Moreover, the two share the same lineage of the Great Leader, or Suryong,linked to Kim Jong suk on the maternal side, and are fully devoted to the absolute supremacy of the Suryong and hereditary succession.

Since Helmut Kohl's semi eternal government was voted out of power last year, Fischer has become the surprising symbol for continuity and European commitment in German diplomacy.

The information vacuum was reminiscent of the secrecy surrounding the deaths of Stalin and Mao, and the practice in the Ottoman empire of keeping the sultan s death a secret for weeks until the succession was settled.

As products of revolutionary military takeovers, these secular nationalist regimes failed to produce genuine popular legitimacy and have had to fall back on the dynastic succession practiced by the regimes they toppled.

Unlike Europe, beset by a sovereign debt crisis, and the United States, whose leaders are wrangling over how to stem the deficit, Russia may look like an oasis of stability and continuity.

While the Kemalists sought a radical break with the Ottoman past, there were important elements of continuity between their Westernization efforts and those undertaken in the late Ottoman period.

The country was unique in the region with its velvet revolution, the change of the political system was smooth, and, in the name of continuity and peace, nobody was called to account.

The problem of succession in the Arab secular republics highlights their predicament in the transition to a post revolutionary phase, for succession in regimes that fail to build strong institutions always risks triggering a systemic crisis.

The centrality of hereditary succession in the quest for peace and stability was shown by Hafez al Assad when he agreed to unprecedented good will gestures aimed at drawing Ehud Barak s Israeli government into a peace deal.

But the key external factor in ensuring a peaceful succession will be the policies of South Korea and the US, which must decide whether they can work with the North in the post Kim Jong il era. Will they wait to see what happens to the new leader, and thus continue their policy of strategic patience, which focuses mainly on denuclearization, and not move on to other areas until the North moves first?

But the key external factor in ensuring a peaceful succession will be the policies of South Korea and the US, which must decide whether they can work with the North in the post Kim Jong il era.

SINGAPORE To the extent that culture matters in politics, the recent spate of leadership changes in Northeast Asia suggests that Asian societies are more tolerant if not supportive of dynastic succession.

France and Germany argue that this rotational system is dysfunctional, partly because of discontinuity, and have proposed that the Council should appoint a full time permanent President for a period of five years.