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Get the News You Need - Part II

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As you've probably heard by now, the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania were likely conducted by the same group of people. Although there isn't much new news to report here, there is likely going to be a connection to the Middle East and terrorist organizations that are likely supported by countries.

Why should we continue to allow countries to support terrorism? What can we do about that without going to war against every country that does it? I've included a suggestion that might work along with some of the problems that are inherent.

The current international system is based upon power and the ability to project it on other countries and regions. Power includes military, political and economic, with economic power being the most commonly used today. This is how the US is able to pressure countries to do certain things that those countries wouldn't normally do.

The international system has numerous international organizations that make relations between the countries easier but sometimes these organizations and international bodies are simply ignored for political expediency. The UN and World Court are both possible solutions for many international disputes but are routinely disregarded by countries because they don't want to lose any power or become subservient to a supranational body that has the ability to rule against them.

Nationalism is a major factor as to why these bodies aren't able to handle disputes ranging from Bosnia to the Mid-East Peace Process and the handling of transactions between Iran and the US that arose from the freeze of Iranian assets in the US and seizure of US assets in Iran. Do nationalists have a point when they don't want someone from another country deciding the fate of their foreign policy or economic futures? Yes. But nothing is as clear and simple as it seems at first blush. Working together to solve problems achieves far more than trying to gain advantages through force. Although you may not get everything you want all the time through negotiations and cooperative means, you get much of what you want all of the time. Foreign policy isn't about an all-or-nothing zero-sum game.

What individuals can do to learn more about foreign policy and how various countries interact with each other is really quite simple, although quite time-intensive. It breaks down to keeping track of what countries are saying about each other and how they report the news. It means the reader needs to take a critical view of the news and not accept things as proof on first look. See if there are stories that match from numerous sources. Do the legwork and you'll find that it pays off with a better understanding of the region and the politics. Realize that the sound bites that are fed to us on the nightly news don't even begin to cover the intricacies of the situation.

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