NEED TO KNOW CUBA Cuba Libre, on Ice Originating in Cuba in the early 20th century, the Cuba Libre (Rum and Coke) […]

NEED TO KNOW KOREAS Kimchi Diplomacy Around 17,000 schoolchildren in North Korea recently held a gymnastics show called “Glorious Country.” The show […]

NEED TO KNOW ORTHODOX CHURCH Holy Politics A battle for the soul of the Eastern Orthodox Church is underway. The result might […]

NEED TO KNOW SRI LANKA A Bloodless Coup The turmoil in Sri Lanka has been called a “coup without guns.” In late […]

NEED TO KNOW SYRIA Mission Impossible Geir Pedersen helped orchestrate the famous handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader […]

NEED TO KNOW EASTERN EUROPE The New Geopolitics “Fort Trump” became a punchline in September after President Andrzej Duda of Poland suggested the […]

NEED TO KNOW MADAGASCAR The 36-Way Race Madagascar is in the height of campaign season, with 36 candidates, including four ex-heads of […]

NEED TO KNOW HONDURAS No Place Like Home Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez recently tweeted that he wanted to send officials to Guatemala […]

NEED TO KNOW CONGO Kleptocrats, Militias and Ebola The Democratic Republic of Congo might change if the country can get out of […]

NEED TO KNOW GERMANY Exit State Right In bowing out, German Chancellor Angela Merkel demonstrated yet again that she’s one of the […]

NEED TO KNOW NEW CALEDONIA Liberty or Croissants Most Americans don’t know much about the history of the vast French empire or […]

NEED TO KNOW GUINEA-BISSAU By the Numbers Thousands demonstrated in the tiny West African nation of Guinea-Bissau recently. At issue was the […]

NEED TO KNOW MEXICO For We’re Bound for the Rio Grande President Donald Trump was expected to send troops to the Mexican […]

NEED TO KNOW UNITED KINGDOM Fool in the Rain Lifespans in the United Kingdom rose for almost 130 years as improvements in […]

NEED TO KNOW ECUADOR The World’s Worst Guest The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, is a heroic activist-whistleblower to some and a […]

NEED TO KNOW YEMEN The End of Impunity Yemenis in refugee camps in the northern reaches of the Middle Eastern country have […]

NEED TO KNOW IRELAND A Poet, A Mood The office of the president of Ireland is largely ceremonial. “But as the country’s […]

NEED TO KNOW BURUNDI Never Again, Again Marguerite Barankitse, an advocate for refugees in Burundi, recently appealed to Canadians to help stop […]

NEED TO KNOW ITALY Garbage, Potholes and Exploding Buses Italian leaders are squeezed from above, below and within. Their constituents are angry […]

NEED TO KNOW AFGHANISTAN The Enemy of My Enemy… President George W. Bush sent American troops into Afghanistan 17 years ago to […]

NEED TO KNOW BHUTAN Ballots, and Shangri-La Bhutan could be the greenest country in the world. The forests that cover 70 percent […]

NEED TO KNOW THE CAUCASUS A New Great Game US National Security Adviser John Bolton is visiting Russia and three Caucasus nations […]

NEED TO KNOW NIGERIA Magic Snakes and Rag Pickers When $100,000 in state exam fees disappeared from a Nigerian government office, the […]

NEED TO KNOW LUXEMBOURG Bread and Circuses The Grand Dutchy of Luxembourg held elections Sunday. Whoop dee doo, right? Wealthy Luxembourg is […]