Washington Secures Long-Sought Hemispheric Outpost, Perhaps at the Expense of Regional Sovereignty This press release from the Center for Hemispheric Relations is just about the only reporting I've found about the establishment on July 1 of a new US military base in Paraguay. There was a short article in Prensa Latina on July 11, only 3 days after it first published a story that Paraguay had denied the establishment of the base.

There are a very few stories here and there online, but nothing in the American press about this development. You have to know the story exists to find out anything about it. Which is more disturbing, that the US military is on the verge of establishing a new foothold in another sovereign nation or that the US media is not reporting it at all? I really can't decide what I think about this.
posted by elgoose on Jul 22, 2005 - 3 comments

What the world thinks of America... are we about to find out for sure? A special live global forum will be broadcast in a dozen countries later this week, hosted in London, and bringing in the opinions of media representatives of Israel, France, Australia, Brazil, Jordan and more. The forum also features the likes of Benazir Bhutto and Joe Klein. Whatever your opinion of the part the United States plays in our world, it's undeniable that it will be a dominating force in the near future.
posted by Jimbob on Jun 16, 2003 - 39 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

Canadian American Relations According to the Guardian: essentially, Canadians regard all Americans as morons, unless proven otherwise.
posted by blue_beetle on Dec 15, 2002 - 87 comments

Brand USA Naomi ('No Logo') Klein on Charlotte Beers' work to manage the US 'brand'. Sitting outside the US, a lot of what Klein says about external perception of the 'brand' (and of Beers' actions) seems quite believable to me, but I'd be interested in hearing an insider view.
Klein's assertion that "...America's problem is not with its brand-- which could scarcely be stronger--but with its product" seems relatively solid, and if it is, it seems that Ms Beers' mission is all-but-impossible, or at the very least misdirected.
That said, the thrust of Klein's argument is the assertion that the US's values are basically incompatible with the whole idea of branding, and I'd suggest that the same could be said of many countries. I suppose the point here is that this specific exercise is rooted in the US's positioning of itself in the world at this point in time.
[Via abraxas]
posted by jonpollard on Mar 18, 2002 - 4 comments