What is really going on in the world?
Read the international news reports and try to figure out what is going on. Most reporting is a form of gossip: “I am standing here and looking at this, and these people are doing that, and Washington tell us ….” After a while, it all looks the same. Lots of words, very little actual information or content.
“Behind the Curtain” is an attempt to give a 360-degree view of world events. I first realized that the world was very different from what I knew back in the 70′s when I started reading Le Monde, the French newspaper. Same events, very different set of conclusions. You can do the same by going to a website such as “Thousands of Newspapers on the Web” and see what they are reporting in The China Daily, Latin American Post, or the Daily Sun from Pakistan. These papers report the same events as U.S./western paper, but draw different conclusions. You dont need to believe them, but believe that they are reporting based on their position, background, and information, the same as any other paper.
It is rare to find consensus in politics, because political conclusion are based on beliefs and values, as well as information. We all see the world based on different assumptions and backgrounds. Its not scientific, its not always factual, but it is always fascinating.
The real impetus to start this blog was when friends asked me, “What is really going on in Georgia?” I am not an expert in that part of the world, but it seemed pretty clear to me what was going on, though most western news media (repeating each other’s “news”) did not see to agree.
That’s the first blog, “Behind the curtain in South Ossetia,” complete with predictions. We’ll have to wait and see if those predictions prove accurate.
Doug Moreland
