International Issues
Want to learn more about other topics in the news? Here you’ll find links to overviews of important world issues, and other pieces you may find interesting.
North Korea
• BBC
• The New York Times
• Inside North Korea: what’s it like there?
• A reporter’s observations on life in North Korea
• The life of Kim Jong Il, who led North Korea from 1994 to 2011
• North Korea: the totalitarian dinosaur, and what to do about it
Pakistan
• For background on tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan: the New York Times
• What is the Haqqani Network?
• Malala Yousufzai, the girl who stood up to the Taliban in Pakistan
Somalia
For basic background: the New York Times.
Mexico’s Drug War
• For background: the New York Times
• For information on the recent violence: BBC
• The drug war has left more than 5,300 missing: CNN.
What’s going on in Syria?
• The New York Times
Food Prices: a Growing Crisis
• USAToday
Stories from Europe
The European Disunion: despite efforts at unity, the nations seem to be drifting apart
Europe’s far right: against immigration and multiculturalism
The Rupert Murdoch phone hacking scandal
Stories from the Middle East
Who are the Salafis? (And should we worry about them?)
Stories from Asia
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s election victory: what it means for Myanmar
Our unmanned drone attacks on terrorist leaders: the news isn’t all good
A Gandhi-style anti-corruption movement in India…helped by social media
Stories from Africa
In Mali, thousands flee jihadists
South Africa’s violent mine strike: what happened?
Are child slaves making your chocolate?
Who is Joseph Kony? (You’ll be hearing his name often, thanks to a viral video exposé.)
About Joseph Kony: the story is more complicated than we thought…
It’s not just Joseph Kony: Child soldiers are used in most civil wars around the world
Charles Taylor has been convicted of crimes against humanity—but who is he, and what did he do?
Slavery’s last stronghold: Mauritania
Africa: despite a coup in Mali, progress toward democracy overall
Ten big stories from Africa: and they’re all good news!
Wangari Maathai, the woman who planted trees—30 million of them
Stories from Latin America and the Caribbean
Two years after Haiti’s earthquake: why is it taking so long to rebuild?
About Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
Other topics
Reasons for optimism in a difficult world: a Harvard commencement address
The top 10 nations on the 2012 Failed States Index
How today’s dictators function
Which country enjoys the most freedom? Depends on how you measure…
In the future, food scarcity will shape world politics
Honor killings: a vestige of tribal culture, not Islamic law
The U.S. Census Bureau predicts what the world’s population will look like in 2050
What the rest of the world is like for women
Four ways the world is getting better
Same-sex marriage: how the rest of the world handles it
