World Politics Recommended Reading
Books:
No God but God, Reza Aslan – history and assessment of Islam; historic with discussion of current events
Collapse, Jared Diamond – how/why civilizations decide to fail
Religious Literacy, Stephen Prothero – What Every American Needs to Know – And Doesn’t – about world religions
The Words We Live By – Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution of the United States, Linda Monk.
The Bill of Rights – A User’s Guide. Linda Monk.
Issue resources on the web:
http://www.gravmag.com/oil.html#imports
Rudimentary facts and assessments of world oil stats.
Periodicals:
The Economist. International politics with special emphasis on economics.
Foreign Affairs. Published by the Council on Foreign Relations. Arguably the most literate writing on foreign policy. No pictures.
The Nation. An American institution of progressive thought having been founded in the 1860s! (yes, you read right) It is published weekly and can be viewed online, or you could subscribe, or read the copy in the Peter White Library.
Leading International Resources on the Web:
But there are many, may more. It’s always interesting to see what stories rate headline status in the rest of the world, compared to what we hear and see via US media.
Associated Press World Summary
Interfax: Russian News Service
Al Jazera: Counter voice to Jerusalem Post
Haaretz, A daily Israeli paper, generally akin to the NY Times in politics. You'll get the voice of the more liberal Israelis. Plus they will give divergent opinions
Television and Radio:
The National with Peter Mansbridge – CBC Cable Channel 16 – nightly, 10:00 pm
BBC World Update, WNMU-FM, M-F 5:00 am to 6 :00 am
BBC World News, WNMU-TV, M-F, 6:00 to 6:30 pm and 11:00 to 11:30 pm
World Journal, WNMU-TV, M-Th, 5:30 to 6:00 pm (Deutche Welle (Germany))
Amy Goodman on "Democracy Now" --although not all programs are international in nature, many are, particularly right now. It can be viewed on satellite TV on the Link station, or you can stream it on the internet by going to www.democracynow.org
Shortwave Radio:
Almost every country has a radio outlet and a parallel webcast outlet. Google search “radio <countryname>” or get a copy of Passport to World Band Radio for complete info re: times, frequencies, languages.
Suggestions for additions and other refinements of this list are always welcome at the table.
