The first full year in power for the third ruler of North Korea's Kim dynasty has led to a spike of tensions with South Korea and a purge within the DPRK. Essentially, there is not much that is new here: Pyongyang has been using its nuclear program as a survival policy and a tool for blackmailing its neighbors, and internally the regime has been one of the most expressive in the world. The new element is the very young and inexperienced leader, whose very personality may precipitate crisis. The Korean Peninsula remains one of the most volatile places on Earth, requiring cooperation among the five powers dealing with the DPRK: China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and the United States.

In anticipation of the withdrawal of ISAF forces, Afghanistan's war continues with fewer coalition casualties and more bombings in Kabul. It is unlikely that, once the bulk of the foreign forces leave, Afghanistan will be a threat to the security of the region. It is equally unlikely though that the question, who rules Afghanistan, will be decided exclusively at elections. The neighbors and regional powers, which will be involved, one way or another, need to see that their competition, beyond a certain level, may fuel the Afghan conflict further, undermining their own security. From 2014, it will be Afghanistan's direct neighbors, plus Russia, which will need to take on more responsibility for that country.

Finally, the Middle East has demonstrated two trends: a military disengagement by the United States and the steep rise in regional tensions. Even as the United States has partnered with Russia on Syria and engaged directly with Iran, the relations within the region, between the Saudi-led Sunni bloc and the Shiite Iran and its allies, have reached the point of a war by proxy, fought from Syria to the Gulf to Yemen. This conflict is about regional primacy, and it is likely to intensify even if the interim deal with Iran holds and paves the way to a more general arrangement. Geopolitics will play along domestic developments to continue to undermine regimes, redraw borders, lead to unlikely alliances, and threaten regional peace—but unless world powers are involved (and they might be, if Israel is), the Middle Eastern conflagrations will remain a regional matter.

All this promises an interesting 2014, and the lessons learned from the first global conflict, whose centenary will be marked next August, are of more than academic significance today.