Via The Agonist, a Harris Poll finds that many adults in the US are ignorant of and uninterested in foreign news. Hand-wringing will be a common reaction to these findings, but I think the situation is understandable: why and how should Americans pay attention to news from abroad in an era when practically infinite sources and topics are available? More importantly, how can Americans engage with news from abroad when much of it seems to be an unending parade of natural and political disasters interspersed with failed elections and governmental abuses against their citizens? We have become desensitized to the problems coming from other countries, the humanitarian concerns and the social crises, and we do not always have the background to understand the more positive cultural and social developments that occur overseas.
Cross-posted at The Seminal.
Do I think we should follow foreign news? Of course. But I think one has to have a starting point to provide context. So for Americans who don’t follow much foreign news, I have a suggestion: start by learning about the war in Afghanistan. It will be easier to engage with a subject that involves our own troops and that has repercussions for own politics. Moreover, Afghanistan is a fascinating country whose history and politics have implications that go far beyond the Afghan people. Knowledge of Afghanistan inevitably leads one to think about issues like Central Asian oil, democracy in Pakistan, and Iranian politics.
What is the responsibility of the blogosphere? We should amplify our coverage of Afghanistan. Many bloggers focus on Iraq, but our brains are big enough to cover two foreign wars at the same time. Including coverage of Afghanistan can broaden our political conversations, and can provide useful contrasts and comparisons with the situation in Iraq. Additionally, it does the public the valuable service of reminding them about the details and contours of a war that is real, and dangerous, and important, but all too often forgotten by media outlets large and small in America.