NEED TO KNOW IRAQ Mystic Chords of Memory The financial crisis, the rise of the Islamic State and the success of right-wing […]

NEED TO KNOW COLOMBIA More Than Words 2018 hasn’t been the best year for the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, better […]

NEED TO KNOW AZERBAIJAN The Birth of a Nation When it was founded in 1918, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was one of […]

NEED TO KNOW JAPAN On the Sidelines At their meeting in President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo […]

NEED TO KNOW UZBEKISTAN On Defrost For 27 years, Uzbek dictator Islam Karimov regularly jailed and tortured dissenters, threatened citizens with a […]

NEED TO KNOW SIERRA LEONE Deep Dive Sierra Leone recently swore in newly elected President Julius Maada Bio, a retired military commander […]

NEED TO KNOW ISRAEL A Bittersweet Journey The 70th anniversary of Israel led to a bevy of bittersweet coverage in the news. […]

NEED TO KNOW CUBA The Ties That Bind When the Washington Post’s reporter asked Cubans about their hopes for the nation after […]

NEED TO KNOW INDIA R-E-S-P-E-C-T Americans debate often about affirmative action and racial quotas in schools and the workplace. Those debates have […]

NEED TO KNOW PARAGUAY Bucking the Trend The next stop on the super-election train running through South America this year is Paraguay, […]

NEED TO KNOW SUDAN Healing Divisions ABC News had an amazing piece on an American doctor who works in the Nuba Mountains, […]

NEED TO KNOW FRANCE Coup de Grace French President Emmanuel Macron’s calls for overarching labor and fiscal reforms are quickly turning into […]

NEED TO KNOW SYRIA Friends and Enemies American, British and French air strikes against chemical weapons facilities in Syria understandably dominated the […]

NEED TO KNOW MONTENEGRO The Fate of a Nation Since the end of the Yugoslav Wars and the accession of a handful […]

NEED TO KNOW ETHIOPIA A New Day in an Old Country Ethiopia’s economic growth has been miraculous, according to Quartz. In 2000, […]

NEED TO KNOW UK/RUSSIA Cheeky Disbelief Russian officials recently suggested they help British investigators trying to get to the bottom of the […]

NEED TO KNOW MYANMAR Puppet Politics Following the surprise resignation of President U Htin Kyaw late last month on account of poor […]

NEED TO KNOW PAKISTAN Out of the Ditch Last month, Pakistan, a Muslim majority nation, elected its first Hindu woman from the […]

NEED TO KNOW AFRICA The Most Tragic of Corners Over the last century, as economies and democracies flourished, governments have been able […]

NEED TO KNOW IRAN The Long Game Iran has been playing a long game behind the scenes. Iranian operatives have built up […]

NEED TO KNOW ITALY Same Same But Different When the populist Five Star Movement and a coalition of far-right political parties garnered […]

NEED TO KNOW CARRIBEAN A New Breeze Residents of Barbados should follow the example of pop star and fellow islander Rihanna and […]

NEED TO KNOW CHINA/NORTH KOREA Lips and Teeth Mao Zedong once said that even in the worst of times, China and North […]

NEED TO KNOW SRI LANKA Pass the Buck On the day before anti-Muslim violence broke out in Sri Lanka’s Kandy district earlier […]