Iranian President Ahmadinejad held an exclusive interview for Newsweek and the Washington Post and discussed a few contentious topics, such as the war in Afghanistan, the development of enriched uranium and how Iran currently has a Newsweek reporter behind bars. The entire interview can be found here.

It was a very interesting read, to say the least. As a self-proclaimed cynic, I’ve started to question my perceptions of other countries and world leaders. I want to start with a quick disclaimer: this is not a rant about me being anti-American or hating democracy or anything. I am proud of my country and thankful for the opportunities I have received. There aren’t very many places in the world where someone from my background could actually find a way to pursue a degree and change his family tree. But I will say this: I’m not afraid to challenge what I hear on CNN, MSNBC and Fox about U.S. relations with countries like Iran, North Korea, etc.

But, I question how much these news outlets really know about the “dangerous” world leaders? How do we know that Iran is really worthy of our concern and rhetoric?

After all, our country has certainly had a pretty ugly past … from slavery to internment camps to involving ourselves in conflicts in Cuba, the Phillipines, Colombia, etc … If some of these things were occurring in America today, I would hope that our media would be able to inform the public before it started. But I digress.

I cannot tell you how to feel about other countries and world leaders, because I’m not sure myself. I can tell you to be careful about what you see and hear in the media and to try and consume a balanced newscast to get the whole story. LinkTV offers a wonderful show called Mosaic, where they take stories from newscasts in the UAE, Israel, Iran and others and show them for free, even interpreting the ones that aren’t played in English. It’s a great way to see how folks in other countries view current affairs.



Also, I highly recommend to keep up with BBC and Al-Jazeera. I find these two outlets as a great sources for international news.

There’s something more important than all of this other stuff though: whenever you consume news about international news, try to understand the historical context involved. When North Korea refuses to stop enriching uranium, spend a few minutes studying the U.S. relationship with North Korea for the past 30 years. When we hear about regional conflicts in Afghanistan or Iraq, try to learn more about how the regions inside of these countries are sometimes vastly different.

Thanks for listening to me rant. I love following world news and sometimes it’s frustrating for me because I don’t know all of the complexities involved with every story. I’m still learning a lot about international affairs and, if you currently are not, I encourage you to do so as well.