Brazil

AIDS has been a viral wrecking ball across Africa, and much of the globe for that matter. More than 25 million have died from the disease, but the international community’s bedside manner is getting better. NGOs, nations and international organizations are building up a global resistance to the deadly virus. They’ve succeeding in treating millions already infected with HIV, but stemming the spread is a much tougher case. And with the doctor’s orders often running up against religious convictions and traditional customs, prescribing a potent prevention protocol is a complicated operation.

It seems that today you can’t turn on the television (or the radio) without hearing talk of American decline. The country is in the throes of a financial crisis, and grinding through two wars. China, India, Russia and others are sitting at the big kids’ table, and even a recent National Intelligence Council report warns that America’s unipolar moment is over. Others say, not so fast—the US has been declared dead before, but it turns out it was just resting. We take the measure of American power and leadership amid the rise of the rest.