COVER: Russia's New Face. (Atlantic edition). Moscow Bureau Chief Owen Matthews and Special Correspondent Anna Nemtsova report that the heir to the Russian presidency Dmitry Medvedev's chief qualification for the post is his longstanding loyalty to his mentor, Vladimir Putin. But there are some very real generational and personality differences that suggest Medvedev could one day veer off from his mentor's path. Some are the superficial contrasts. Others are far deeper differences in both tone and political emphasis. Medvedev's years as a corporate lawyer and later as a businessman gave him a different perspective on Russia and its role in the world. While Putin throws vitriol at enemies, both real and perceived, Medvedev is more interested in preventing another of Russia's economic collapses than adopting bellicose rhetoric.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/114679 (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080224/NYSU004 )

COVER: After Fidel. (Latin America edition). Latin America Regional Editor Joseph Contreras reports on the effect of Fidel Castro's stepping down on Cuba's young population. Even before Castro's resignation, things had started to shift under the surface. A new generation of Cubans had started to give voice to their anger and frustration in ways unthinkable just a few years ago. Contreras reports that young Cubans are starting to publicly demand that the regime make tangible improvements in their lives. Their wish lists are decidedly apolitical.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/114678

Retire the Revolutionary Myth. Leon Krauze, an editor of Letras Libres magazine and host of the daily radio newscast Tercera Emision, writes in a guest essay about Latin America's deeply ambiguous relationship with Fidel Castro and his legacy. "As the younger callers to my radio show made clear, Castro's legacy is not set in stone. During the hazy 1960s and '70s, Castro could camouflage his disregard for human rights under revolutionary rhetoric. Now that ruse will no longer succeed," he writes. "Once the truth of Castro's legacy becomes known ... Fidel's image as a Homeric hero will begin to erode."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/114691

COVER: Asia's Sarkozy. (Asia edition). Special Correspondent B.J. Lee and Tokyo Bureau Chief Christian Caryl look at how South Korea's conservative new president, Lee Myung-Bak-a cosmopolitan, business-friendly ex-CEO-plans to save his country by nudging it back to the right, boosting international economic links and improving ties with Washington. While he will face formidable challenges to return South Korea to the upper ranks of the world economy, Lee thinks he has the solution: to court foreign investment, make nice with old allies and step up English-language education -- a plan he bills as "Global Korea" -- while dramatically cutting taxes, spending and regulation.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/114681

Meet the Salaryman in Chief. In an interview, President Lee Myung-Bak discussed his promises to enhance competitiveness by ending left-leaning liberal policies. On what South Korea will look like in the next five years, Lee says, "We will try to recover our competitiveness. Deregulation will be pursued to meet global standards. After five years, our society will show the face of an advanced first-rate country."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/114682

Playing Games With Kosovo. In a guest essay, Gen. Wesley K. Clark, who commanded NATO forces during the Kosovo war in 1999, writes about Russia advertising its anger over Kosovo's declared independence. "The real reason for [Vladimir] Putin's intransigence is that he sees Serbia as Russia's last slice of the former Yugoslavia still in Moscow's sphere of influence -- and as Russia's final bulwark in Southeast Europe against the West. There's more than just 19th-century Pan-Slavism or 21st-century Russian pride at stake here. Russia's objections reflect pure geostrategetic calculus."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/114690

Looking for a Legacy. Special Correspondent Stephen Glain reports that George W. Bush, who once labeled North Korea a member of the "Axis of Evil," is running out of time on his presidency and his administration is desperate for a foreign-policy triumph. It is scrambling for a deal with Pyongyang that would dismantle North Korea's nuclear program in exchange for its removal from the State Departments' list of terrorist states.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/114683

Poor Countries Yield Big Profits. Special Correspondent Mac Margolis reports that while the U.S. economy is weakening, at a surprising number of the world's biggest businesses -- including IBM, Proctor & Gamble and Coca- Cola -- the mood these days is strangely buoyant. All have a huge presence in emerging-market nations. And not only are these emerging markets holding their own in the face of strong headwinds from the U.S., but they are contributing ever larger portions of revenue, profits and market share to businesses in the developed world.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/114685

GLOBAL INVESTOR: Armageddon Has Not Cometh. "Market pessimism knows no bounds, and now it's literally running off the charts. The word 'recession' is showing up in the business press at a rate not seen even in the trough of the tech boom-bust cycle earlier this decade," writes Ruchir Sharma, head of global emerging markets for Morgan Stanley Investment Management. All the pessimism comes despite data that still do not indicate that the United States has entered a recession, he writes. "Trends in employment, retail sales and industrial production show domestic demand has indeed slowed to a crawl, but is far from falling off a cliff."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/114693

THE GOOD LIFE: Lofty Views. Special Correspondent Lily Huang reports that paragliding, the most peaceful extreme sport, now has an exhilarating new edge. Several paragliding schools in the French Alps offer speed-riding lessons, where wings and skis come together.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/114694

WORLD VIEW: This Is Pakistan's War. In a historic election, Pakistan voted for a democratic future, but the question remains whether democracy will destroy terrorism, Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria writes. "One thing is for sure. If the two parties which together won almost two thirds of the vote adopt a forthright anti-terror strategy, it will be seen as a Pakistani strategy, not one being directed by the Army or the Americans. Until now, the battles against militants have been seen as America's obsession. What democracy could do is make Pakistanis understand that it is their war."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/114721

THE LAST WORD: Michelle Obama. Married to the Democratic presidential front runner, she would by some measures make an unconventional First Lady. When asked if she wants to emulate Hillary Clinton's model of a First Lady who took on policy issues, she tells Newsweek, "I never think in terms of her or anybody else, because I don't know Hillary Clinton ... I don't think I can honestly emulate somebody else. I think I can only be who I can be in this role. And that's going to come with all the pluses and minuses and baggage and insecurities and all the things that I'll bring into it, plus my hopes and dreams along with it."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/112775

CONTACT: LaVenia LaVelle, +1-212-445-4859, LaVenia.LaVelle@Newsweek.com,
or Brenda Velez, +1-212-445-4078, Brenda.Velez@Newsweek.com, both of Newsweek

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