Differences between North Korea and the United States remain vast.
His challenges, though, remain vast, not least in choosing new figures as foreign, interior and justice ministers.
But the challenges before this effort remain vast, many of them the same issues that have beset the uprising in Syria since it began seven months ago.
But continuing reports of drug dependency, suicides and suicide attempts among veterans and active-duty soldiers suggest that urgent needs remain vast and unmet.
And as the markets move increasingly toward computer-driven, high-frequency trading, with exchanges made by the millisecond, the enduring influence of the quants will remain vast — maybe even unquantifiable.
In the longer term, Mr Nemtsov has to find ways of linking pensions to contributions, of drastically cutting housing subsidies, and of breaking up Russia's remaining vast monopolies (especially in energy) and ending their special tax favours.
At 69, even as age and health have somewhat slowed him, Mr. Clinton still has a strong desire to be in the center of the action, friends say, and his intellectual interests and curiosity remain vast.
It's true that right now our fossil-fuel resources remain vast; but it's also true that, if we keep burning through them at current rates, they'll be gone in less time than it took for the Roman Empire to rise and fall.
Pegging the Chinese currency against the dollar has become increasingly costly, with the dollar up as much as 21% against other global currencies since spring of last year, and although China's foreign exchange reserves remain vast, the central bank has been forced to dip into them to support the currency.
There also remain vast stretches of Saudi Arabia that have never felt the vibrations of seismic tests, let alone the drill bit.
