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The first round of voting in the Egyptian elections happened last week, and the verdict in the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak is expected this Saturday. Sherine Tadros, Cairo-based correspondent for Al Jazeera, discusses the state of Egyptian politics.

Financial Times Middle East correspondent Michael Peel joins us to take a look at how Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has ruled his country and responded to the various crises in the region.

Stanley Pignal, private equity correspondent for the Financial Times, discusses the French presidential election and what the outcome could mean for the Euro.

Victor D. Cha, the former Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council discusses North Korea, the world's most controversial and isolated country. His book The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future documents the rise of the Kim family dynasty, and the obsessive personality cult that empowers them, and he illuminates the repressive regime's complex economy and culture.

Actress Michelle Yeoh and filmmaker Luc Besson discuss their film “The Lady,” a biography of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the quiet and determined head of Burma’s democracy movement. The film took years of work, and sometimes subterfuge, to make it. At one point, Yeoh was even deported from Burma. “The Lady” opens on April 11 at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.

On February 7, 2012, Mohamed Nasheed, the democratically elected president of the Maldives, was forced to resign in a coup d'etat orchestrated by the military and forces loyal to the country’s former dictator. President Nasheed and Jon Shenk, director of the documentary “The Island President,” discuss confronting the survival of the country. “The Island President” is playing March 28–April 10 at Film Forum.

Journalist Ahmed Rashid examines the complicated relationship between the United States, Pakistan, and Afghanistan as America prepares for its withdraw from Afghanistan. In Pakistan on the Brink: The Future of America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, he investigates the future of international terrorism, the Taliban, and strategies to bring stability to a fractured region saddled with a legacy of violence and corruption.

In November, the Democratic Republic of Congo held presidential elections, even as the security situation there deteriorated. On today’s Underreported Update, Father Ferdinand Muhigirwa, the director of CEPAS (Centre d’Etudes pour l’Action Sociale), the oldest think tank in Congo, describes what’s happened since the contested election. He also looks at suppression of protests in Kinshasa and escalation of violence in the eastern part of the country. We’ll also be joined by Akwe Amosu, the director of Africa advocacy at the Open Society Foundations.

Jeremy Scahill, National Security Reporter for The Nation magazine, talks about the United States’ increasingly unpopular counter-terrorism efforts in Yemen.

Former BBC Moscow correspondent Angus Roxburgh charts the fight for Russia’s future under Vladimir Putin. His book The Strongman: Vladimir Putin and the Struggles for Russia examines how the former KGB man changed from reformer to autocrat, how he sought the West’s respect but earned its fear, and how he cracked down on his rivals at home and developed a personality cult.

This week's Please Explain is the final installment of our series How to Save the World. Jeffrey Sachs discusses whether it's possible to achieve world peace. He's Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. His most recent book is The Price of Civilization.

Fawzia Koofi, the nineteenth daughter of a local village leader in rural Afghanistan discusses rising from abuse and hardship to become the first Afghani woman Parliament speaker. Her new book, The Favored Daughter: One Woman’s Fight to Lead Afghanistan into the Future, describes the Russian and Taliban regimes in Afghanistan, the murders of her father, brother, and husband, and attempts on her life. She also describes the future and freedoms she wants for all the women of Afghanistan.

John Campbell discusses his biography of Margaret Thatcher and examines her impact on the 20th century. From her humble, small-town upbringing to her rise to power as the United Kingdom's first female prime minister, to her dramatic fall from grace after more than three decades of service. The Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, from Grocer’s Daughter to Prime Minister delves into Thatcher’s life and legacy.

On today’s Backstory, we’ll look at the Nashi youth movement in Russia, which was started in 2005 and has close ties to the Kremlin. With thousands of members, the group rallies in favor of the government and harass the political opposition. Director Lise Birk Pedersen talks about her documentary “Putin’s Kiss,” which follows a young Nashi leader as she gradually becomes disenchanted by the movement—and the opposition journalists who risk their safety to criticize the Nashi. She's joined by Sasha de Vogel, program coordinator at Columbia’s Committee on Global Thought.

Last month, the Arab League sent a team of observers to Syria, where the government has been cracking down on protesters. Colum Lynch, who writes the Turtle Bay blog for Foreign Policy and reports on the United Nations for the Washington Post, explains what internal Arab League memos reveal about the mission in Syria. Plus, a look at why Russia opposed the United Nations Security Council measure to condemn the Syrian government during a meeting on Tuesday.

President Obama recently called Chile “a model for the region and the world.” Ricardo Lagos, president of Chile from 2000 to 2006 talks about his country's rise on the world stage. In The Southern Tiger: Chile’s Fight for a Democratic and Prosperous Future, Lagos chronicles Chile's journey from terror and repression under General Pinochet to an open society with a thriving economy.

Delphine Halgand, the Washington, DC, director of Reporters Without Borders, looks at the recent report on international press freedom issued by Reporters Without Borders and examine why the United States dropped 27 places to number 47 this year.

Filmmakers Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill discuss their new documentary “In Tahrir Square: 18 Days of Egypt’s Unfinished Revolution.” They’re joined by Egyptian-American journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous, who is featured in it. “In Tahrir Square: 18 Days of Egypt’s Unfinished Revolution” debuts on HBO Wednesday, January 25, at 8 pm.

Over the last few weeks, thousands of Hungarians have been in the streets, protesting the government’s changes to the country’s constitution. On today’s second Backstory, journalist Adam LeBor joins us from Budapest to discuss why the new constitution has raised concerns within Hungary and around the world, and why the changes could affect the country’s access to economic aid from the IMF and the EU.

New York Times correspondent Michael Schmidt and Sam Dagher, Wall Street Journal reporter in Iraq, discuss the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq this month, the state of the country nine years after the invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein, sectarian violence, and their thoughts about the future of Iraq.