Geopolitics Playbook

In addition to 1.2 million estimated Syrian refugees now in countries neighboring Syria, another four million Syrians have been displaced by the civil war and are trapped within Syria, according to an official at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Water systems, schools, health services, and bakeries are "teetering or have shut down," leaving a population in distress, according to Agence France Presse. The UNHCR registered more than 400,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon, though many more are believed to be in the country.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cannot run for reelection in June because of Iran's two-term limitation laws, but he's not going out quietly. To boost his handpicked successor Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei's prospects, Ahmadinejad is campaigning as if he were an opposition reformist. His target: the hard-line traditionalists and clerics, as well as leaders of the Revolutionary Guards who have assumed control over large segments of Iran's economy, The New York Times' Thomas Erdbrink reports.

A new Egyptian battlefront has apparently opened as a violent clash between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and their opponents broke out in Cairo two weeks ago. Associated Press details the results of a March 22 riot which "revealed a new readiness of some in the anti-Brotherhood opposition to turn to violence... The fight featured an unusual vengefulness." Islamists are demanding the government crack down on the opponents of President Mohammed Mursi and arrest anti-Brotherhood members of the media.

The largest gas-producer in the world, Gazprom produces 75 percent of Russia's gas and maintains a monopoly on exports to western and eastern Europe. Effectively controlled by President Vladimir Putin and his allies, Gazprom was a cash cow and a tool for Russian foreign policy. Today, the company is facing serious problems, The Economist warns. "On March 4th its shares hit a four-year low.