What Every American Should Know About the Rest of the World: Your Guide to Today's Hot Spots, Hot Shots and Incendiary Issues

399 Pages·2003·4.49 MB·English

by  Melissa L. Rossi

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W h a t E v e r y
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AM ERICAN
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S h o u l d K n o w A b o u t
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t h e R e s t o f t h e
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WORLD 15
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YHooutr SGhuoitdse a tnod T oI ndcaeyn’sd iHaor ty SI spsoutess, 1222290123
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M. L. Rossi 28
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A PLUME BOOK
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PLUME
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York,
New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL,
England
Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road,
Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia
Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2
Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, Cnr Rosedale and
Airborne Roads, Albany, Auckland 1310,
New Zealand
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices:
Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England
First published by Plume, a member of Penguin
Group (USA) Inc.
eBook published, September 2003
Copyright © Melissa Rossi, 2003
All rights reserved
REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA
REGISTRADA
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-
PUBLICATION DATA
Rossi, M. L. (Melissa L.), 1965–
What every American should know about the rest of
the world : your guide to today’s hot
spots, hot shots and incendiary issues / M.L. Rossi.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7865-4035-4
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved
above, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form, or by
any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise), without the prior
written permission of both the copyright owner and
the above publisher of this book.
Making or distributing electronic copies of this book
constitutes copyright infringement and could subject
the infringer to criminal and civil liability.
Visit our web site at www.penguinputnam.com
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To Justin Kumpf,
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the original armchair diplomat
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Acknowledgments
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13 Thanks to my family, who let me overrun their living rooms, expecially my mom,
14 forced to vacuum around the towering books;Katherine Dunn the most evolved
15 person I know;Anne Pramaggiore for making me laugh;artist Karl Abramovic
16 for living my hell;my editor Gary Brozek for putting the pieces of this puzzle to-
17 gether; the amazingly detail-oriented Jenny Good for fantastic research; my
18 agent Joe Regal for cheering me on;Trena Keating for giving me a chance;Jeff
19 Freiert and Norina Frabotta for marshaling this through all phases of produc-
20 tion;Laura Blumenthal for perpetual helpfulness;graphic artist Heidi Good for
21 late-night mapmaking; Ruth Mandel for digging up photos; everyone who
22 worked on this hair-puller in Plume’s production, art and editing departments;
23 Professor Toby Miller for pointing me in the right direction; Anne “Ling-ling”
24 Millereau for translations;the Dutch artists Alien Oosting and Jeroem Bergen
25 for general help; Keith Bellows and Jayne Wise for sending me to Romania;
26 Marius Dragomir for opening my eyes; Jason Rieff for chronic brightness;
27 Stephen Knipp for chronic insight;Max and Marina for showing up;Pat Talbot
28 for life-changing walks;Bea Harris for being;Catherine and Sam Couplan for
29 adopting me in Bruxelles;Professor Jaime Kooser for showing the real-life ap-
30 plication of geography;the late Pete Glennon for his wry observations;and all
31 the generous, kind, tuned in, humorous and wonderful people in assorted
32 countries I’ve met along the way.
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Contents
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Introduction xiii 13
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PART ONE. TICKERS 1 15
Iraq 3 16
Israel and Palestine 14 17
Indonesia 27 18
Kashmir/India/Pakistan 36 19
North Korea 53 20
Colombia 61 21
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PART TWO. SLOW TICKERS 71
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Russia 73
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Saudi Arabia 83
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Egypt 93
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Iran 102
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China 111
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Taiwan 120
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Sudan 126
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Afghanistan 133
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Somalia 141
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Japan 148
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PART THREE. TALKERS 157
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Turkey 157
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Caucasus Combo 163
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The ’Stans 171
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Philippines 176
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Syria 181
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viii CONTENTS
1 Lebanon 188
2 Spain 191
3 Jordan 197
4 Mideast Medley 204
5 Balkan Bunch 213
6 United Kingdom 223
7 Western Europe 228
8 Rwanda 235
9 Thailand 241
10 Latin American Medley 246
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Cuba 254
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Libya 259
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Venezuela 265
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Mexico 270
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Nigeria 276
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African Assortment 280
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Southeast Asia Sampler 285
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Canada 291
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PART FOUR. THE BIG PICTURE 299
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Africa 299
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Asia 302
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Europe 304
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Latin America 306
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North America 309
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Oceania 311
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Issues:A Very Brief Overview 313
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29 Afterword:Ten Things You Can Do 322
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Glossary 325
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Terms of War, Peace, Religion and Geography 325
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Power Players and Elitist Groups 340
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Bibliography 348
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36 Resources 352
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Notes 354
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39 Index 370
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What Every
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AMERICAN 6
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Should Know About
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the Rest of the
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WORLD 11
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9 Arctic Ocean
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11 Beaufort Sea GREENLAND Greenland Sea
Baffin Bay
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ICELAND
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Bering Sea
14 CANADA Hudson Bay Labrador Sea North Atlantic Ocean Nor
Gulf of Alaska
15 IRELAND U. K.
B
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FR
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U. S. A. PORTUGAL SPAIN
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19 MOROCCO
Canary Islands
20 Gulf of Mexico THE BAHAMAS Atlantic Ocean WESTERN SAHARA AL
21 MEXICO
CUBA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
22 GUATEMALA BELIZHEJOANMDAUICRAASCHaArIiTbIbean Sea SENEGAL MAURITANIA MALI
23 EL SALVADOR NICPAARNAAGMUAA GUINEGAA BMISBSIAAU GUINEA BURKINA
24 COSTA RICA COLOMBVIAENEZUELA GUYSAUNRAINFRAEMNECH GUIANA SIERRA LEOLNIBEERIA D'CIVÔOTIERETOGO
25 EQUATOR
ECUADOR SAO TOME &
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27 PERU BRAZIL
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BOLIVIA
29 Pacific Ocean
PARAGUAY
30 CHILE
31 ARGENTINA
32 URUGUAY
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SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND
FALKLAND ISLANDS
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Norwegian Sea
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NORWAY SWEDEN 13
FINLAND RUSSIA
rth Sea ESTONIA 14
DENMARK LITHUANIA LATVIA
RELAGNNIUECMTEHL.UGSXWE.IRITTSMAZL.TLAOUYAVNNUCEYNSZISETIMACRMIAAHICPAALBRCOTYOHOEAGULSUADRGASNTNOEOLIINGNAAEOSAADICVLALRREAABYOVKAMIINAABAIBAYNUEILALCGAYAMRUPRLUROKIESAULRBDSBAAONlaIVONcTANkEU SReKSaEYYRIAIRGAEQORARCGMaIASAEsZeNpEaIiRaABnAIJIARNATNURKMEUNAZISFBGTEKAHKANIAZSNATIKASHNTSTATANAJNIKKISYTRAGNYZSTAN CHIMNONAGOLIA SOUTH KNOORRETAH KORSJEaeApaa onf JAPASNea of Okhotsk 1111156789
ISRAEL
LGERIA LIBYA EGYPT JORDAN KUBWAHAQRAIATTIANR PAKISTAN NEPALBBAHNUGTLAANDESH 20
NIGER CHAD SUDAN RSEeeRadITSRAEUADI ARABYIEAMUE. NA. OE.MAN INDIA Bay of BengaMlYANMATHRALIALOANSD VICEhTSiNnoaAu tMShea TAIWPAHPNIhLilIiPppPinINe ESSea Pacific Ocean 2212
DJIBOUTI KAMPUCHEA 23
BENIN
GHANANIGECRAIMAEROOCNENTRREAPLU BALFRICICAN ETHIOPIA SOMALIA SRI LANKA MALAYSIBARUNEI 24
IAL GUINEA DEM. REP. ZAIRE UGANDAKENYA 25
& PRINCIGPEABON COONFG TOH E RBWUARNUDNADI Indian Ocean PAPUA NEW GUINEA 26
TANZANIA INDONESIA
Arafura Sea 27
ANGOLA MALAWI Timor Sea
ZAMBIA MADAGASCAR 28
Coral Sea
NAMIBIA ZIMBABWE MAURITIUS FIJI 29
BOTSWANA MOZAMBIQUE Reunion AUSTRALIA NEW CALEDONIA 30
SWAZILAND
ASFORUITCHA LESOTHO 31
Great Australian Bight 32
Tasman Sea
NEW ZEALAND 33
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