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Thread: Do you know who runs other countries?

  1. #1
    Administrator CatInASuit's avatar
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    Default Do you know who runs other countries?

    Something occured to me while looking through the political threads, that although I knew the names of some of the people being mentioned, I did not necessarily know the policies or where they stood in the political spectrum.

    I am aware that Obama is more left wing than McCain was, but compared to the UK, he does not appear to be as left wing as the majority of the current governing Labour party.

    If you were to ask what political position Nicolas Sarkovy or Angela Merkel hold, I would find it difficult. Even though as two of our major trading partners, how their country is run does have an impact in the way they see the EU.

    So the question to you all is, do you know where other Governments stand, do you care what their political leanings are and do you think it affects you at all?

    Or is it something best left to the politicians to sort out?
    In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Do you know who runs other countries?

    I tend to follow somewhat closely politics in the USA of course, but also in the UAE, Yemen, Iran and to a lesser extent, the rest of the Mid East.

  3. #3
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Do you know who runs other countries?

    For me, it's easiest to think of broad swaths of the world in terms of their place on the political line.

    Western Europe and most of the English- and Spanish-speaking world is significantly to the left of us, with some major exceptions. (Mexico, for one.)

    Israel is a little to the right.

    The rest of the Middle East is way to the right.

    Northern Europe is way to the left.

    That big ol' Dictatorship Horn in Africa is way to the right.

    Etc. I'm sure those generalizations sweep over plenty of exceptions, but I'm much better at geography than at geopolitics.

    As for the specifics, I tend to know a little bit about what's going on in the UK, and more about what's going on in Spain (because I'm a Hispanophile and a Democratic Socialist), Mexico (because it's, what, 45 miles away?), and Canada (because it's our other neighbor and we hear about that stuff sometimes). I'll pick up other tidbits on political hotbeds like Sweden, Somalia, China, etc.

    But frankly, I don't know where Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel, Nikolas Sarkozy or Silvio Burlesconi are on the political spectrum, and I don't think it affects my life that much.
    Every dialect is a language, but not every language is a dialect. - Einar Haugen

  4. #4
    Elephant Claptree's avatar
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    Default Re: Do you know who runs other countries?

    I try to keep up, but I doubt I manage more than broad sweeps. I follow US and EU politics fairly closely and take an interest in the Middle East, South America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Australia pops up now and again, but unless they do something stupid I don't really bother. Same for Canada, really.

    I find Japanese politics to be utterly confusing, and China is still China.

    Quote Originally posted by Hostile Dialect
    As for the specifics, I tend to know a little bit about what's going on in the UK, and more about what's going on in Spain (because I'm a Hispanophile and a Democratic Socialist), Mexico (because it's, what, 45 miles away?), and Canada (because it's our other neighbor and we hear about that stuff sometimes). I'll pick up other tidbits on political hotbeds like Sweden, Somalia, China, etc.

    But frankly, I don't know where Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel, Nikolas Sarkozy or Silvio Burlesconi are on the political spectrum, and I don't think it affects my life that much.
    Interesting to see we're a hotbed or is that a whoosh?

    As for the guys you mention, they're (EU-wise) left, left, right and so far right as he can get while still keeping his hand in your wallet. So, US-wise, left, left, left, moderate

  5. #5
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Do you know who runs other countries?

    Quote Originally posted by Claptree
    Interesting to see we're a hotbed or is that a whoosh?
    Well, Sweden is kind of the stereotypical Modern Socialist State. People on the left use it as an example of everything that's right with leftism and people on the right use it as an example of everything that's wrong with leftism. Not a hotbed of political activity per se, but a Major Political Entity in terms of the practical effects of your politics over there.
    Every dialect is a language, but not every language is a dialect. - Einar Haugen

  6. #6
    Elephant Claptree's avatar
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    Default Re: Do you know who runs other countries?

    Ah, that makes sense.

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