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In a fascinating discussion on PBS News Hour, Zbigniew Brzezinski, (US National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981) promoting his new book, Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power, criticizes the American public's understanding of world affairs as the least-informed of the developed countries of the world.

We see the consequences of an American public's ignorance of world affairs in America's foreign policy. How did this happen and what can be done to turn the tide? To enable real understanding of world affairs by the American public? [more inside]
posted by gen on Feb 11, 2012 - 152 comments

In June 2010, a bit of malware of unprecedented ability was discovered by a Belarussian security firm. Stuxnet had remained undetected for over a year. Security researchers have gradually learned more about this worm, which has led to much speculation about its origins and purposes. Though questions remain, it is clear that it is extremely advanced, and that it was designed to find a very specific hardware/software system and disrupt the operation of centrifuges, causing some to assert that it was built to sabotage Iran's nuclear facilities. Recently, Iran confirmed that its nuclear facilities had been seriously affected by Stuxnet. Some experts say that a worm of this level of sophistication could only have been designed by a nation-state. Previously.
posted by entropone on Nov 30, 2010 - 83 comments

Postcards From Hell — For the last half-decade, the Fund for Peace, working with Foreign Policy, has been putting together the Failed States Index (the 2010 version is out), using a battery of indicators to determine how stable—or unstable—a country is. But as the photos here demonstrate, sometimes the best test is the simplest one: You'll only know a failed state when you see it. [more inside]
posted by netbros on Jun 25, 2010 - 16 comments

“Oil is not a commodity,” Eronat said. “It’s a political weapon.”

Enter the world of the oil fixer, one of expensive dinners and third world leaders.
posted by plexi on May 15, 2009 - 21 comments

"Thank you" in 465 languages Also, Hello! in 800 languages, I love you in 89, How much does that cost? in 93, I don't speak [this language] in 58 and Go fuck yourself in 20.
posted by psmealey on Jan 18, 2009 - 53 comments

Fred Kaplan gives President Obama suggestions on foreign policy repair.
posted by wittgenstein on Nov 6, 2008 - 22 comments

English, Motherduffers—do you speak it?
posted by emelenjr on Aug 27, 2008 - 34 comments

The antidote to LOLbushsuxx0rs. Over the course of the past week, Slate ran a ten (10!)-piece series, "Fixin' It", in which various writers postulated how the course of various aspects of the United States' military, culture, and policies could be redirected for the better. Although the articles are not entirely devoid of Bush criticism, there's mostly a fairly rare focus on the positive actions to be taken from here onward by the next President (whether it be McCain or Obama or Clinton).
posted by WCityMike on Apr 10, 2008 - 33 comments

Presented in a way that is familiar to gimmicky kitchen appliances, this frightening weapon can fire 120,000 rounds per minute without a human operator. It makes no noise or flash, and can be mounted anywhere and is operated remotely. [more inside]
posted by hellslinger on Mar 10, 2008 - 84 comments

The Challenge of Global Health is an article written in the most recent Foreign Affairs, describing how "stovepiping" health care funding towards only HIV/AIDS, the shortage of health care workers in the West, and a vacuum of international health-care experts are all causing great damage to developing countries. The article was written by Laurie Garrett, author of The Coming Plague, Betrayal of Trust, as well as a Pulitzer Prize winner for her writing on Ebola. Previously on mefi: garrett resigns, comments on world leaders.
posted by thethirdman on Jan 23, 2007 - 7 comments

the American God? The herders of this remote mountain village know little about America, but have learned from those who run a US-funded aid program about the American God. A Christian God. ...
posted by amberglow on Oct 11, 2006 - 32 comments

This month, the Vancouver International Film Festival will screen the legendary Jacques Rivette film, Out 1: Noli Me Tangere, for the first time ever in North America. At approximately 750 minutes long, the work is the fourth longest film ever commercially released. A Holy Grail for cinephiles, the film was finally dug out of the vaults again for a rare British Film Institute screening, where New York film critic Dennis Lim made a pilgrimage to see it. Long championed by Jonathan Rosenbaum, the film finally makes its American debut at a complete Jacques Rivette retrospective at the American Museum of the Moving Image this November.
posted by jonp72 on Sep 14, 2006 - 7 comments

We're losing the war on terror. Just in case you couldn't gather that on your own, people who ought to know were surveyed (MS Word file).
posted by js003 on Jun 19, 2006 - 103 comments

The Top 10 Stories You Missed in 2005. Foreign Policy, the political science journal/magazine issues its top 10 stories that went under the radar in '05. Included are Rumsfeld’s Slip of the Tongue in regards to One-China, Oil's Opaque Outlook, and "The New Coalition of the Willing."
posted by j-urb on Dec 14, 2005 - 14 comments

Under an agreement signed between Ireland and the US last week, US investigators, including CIA agents, will be allowed to interrogate Irish citizens on Irish soil in total secrecy. Suspects will also have to give testimony and allow property to be searched and seized even if what the suspect is accused of is not a crime in Ireland.
posted by Mr_Zero on Jul 21, 2005 - 31 comments

The Power of Nightmares sets out to claim that the Islamists and the neocons are, in reality, soul mates. Fact or fiction? Check out this series from the BBC using this handy Bit Torrent!
[Via: PopBitch]
posted by DrDoberman on Oct 28, 2004 - 8 comments

Retired general: Bush foreign policy a 'national disaster' A former Air Force chief of staff and one-time "Veteran for Bush" said Saturday that America's foreign relations for the first three years of President Bush's term have been "a national disaster" but that the president's Democratic rival was "up to the task" of rebuilding.
posted by Postroad on Aug 1, 2004 - 26 comments

Think We Can (French) Kiss and Make Up? Two years ago it was "I'll always love and support you". It only took a little while, though, before the arguments began. But there are always counselors to help you work on the relationship. There is even talk of reconciliation. And anyway, this love-hate relationship has been going on for almost three centuries.
posted by twsf on Sep 11, 2003 - 10 comments

The Bartender gives tips for those of you who are worried that the war will hinder your ability to "hook up with foreign hotties."
posted by Juicylicious on Mar 29, 2003 - 10 comments

Good Ol' Foreign Home Cookin': Mexicans, Italians and other foreigners are just as surprised with what passes for Mexican and Italian food in the U.S. as Indians are to encounter chicken tikka masala or vindaloos in the U.K. Americans and Brits visiting the countries whose cuisines they think they know and love must be similarly surprised. Well, purists be damned! Not only is "faux foreign" cuisine sometimes very tasty (less pretentious than "fusion" cooking, for instance), in some cases (e.g. Tex Mex) it can be a damn sight better than the supposed original. And let no one argue these confusions aren't fun... [Apologies it the post looks funny and full of ampersands and the links don't work: my first no-right-clicking post on a mac...]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Dec 13, 2002 - 74 comments