Ordie
03-06-2010, 02:02 AM
Five Lesser-known Countries That Changed the World in 2009
Canapés and Kalashnikovs > GOOD on December 31, 2009 at 7:00 am PST
China and Afghanistan aren't the only two foreign countries that matter.
You couldn’t swing a dead cat in 2009 without hitting headlines about the troop escalation in Afghanistan or the troop withdrawal in Iraq. The same goes for the rise of China and the not-so-democratic presidential “election” in Iran. These were some of the big international attention-getters of the year, and for layman and foreign policy professionals alike, they’re stories that most of us have heard about.
But let’s be fair. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 countries in world, not just the 10 we hear about on television. Here are five countries that changed the world in 2009—and are largely absent in mainstream American press coverage.
By bringing to light the unique circumstances that are shaping these individual countries, we can also discern trends that are shaping the wider world. Plus, if globalization is going to bring peoples and nations closer together anyway, it can’t hurt to know more about the folks we’re sharing a planet with.
From Pigs to Politics: Swine flu in Ukraine
The H1N1 influenza pandemic is milder than initially feared—though widespread globally, the impact is comparable to seasonal influenza. But how countries have faced it can reveal their preparedness for more virulent pathogens. As the case of Ukraine makes clear, even a relatively tame virus can cause major social disruption when combined with ineffective governance.
Read more: http://www.good.is/post/five-lesser-known-countries-that-changed-the-world-in-2009/#ixzz0hNSzFUct
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Canapés and Kalashnikovs > GOOD on December 31, 2009 at 7:00 am PST
China and Afghanistan aren't the only two foreign countries that matter.
You couldn’t swing a dead cat in 2009 without hitting headlines about the troop escalation in Afghanistan or the troop withdrawal in Iraq. The same goes for the rise of China and the not-so-democratic presidential “election” in Iran. These were some of the big international attention-getters of the year, and for layman and foreign policy professionals alike, they’re stories that most of us have heard about.
But let’s be fair. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 countries in world, not just the 10 we hear about on television. Here are five countries that changed the world in 2009—and are largely absent in mainstream American press coverage.
By bringing to light the unique circumstances that are shaping these individual countries, we can also discern trends that are shaping the wider world. Plus, if globalization is going to bring peoples and nations closer together anyway, it can’t hurt to know more about the folks we’re sharing a planet with.
From Pigs to Politics: Swine flu in Ukraine
The H1N1 influenza pandemic is milder than initially feared—though widespread globally, the impact is comparable to seasonal influenza. But how countries have faced it can reveal their preparedness for more virulent pathogens. As the case of Ukraine makes clear, even a relatively tame virus can cause major social disruption when combined with ineffective governance.
Read more: http://www.good.is/post/five-lesser-known-countries-that-changed-the-world-in-2009/#ixzz0hNSzFUct
l