General Information on Governments around the World (including global news)

Governments in the world have web sites

Embassies of other nations to the US have web sites that provide information on their nations in English

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) -- a government funded think tank that examines international issues has a library that contains numerous web resources.

Country Watch is a non-profit organization that provides information and intelligence on all nations. (You may have to pay to use this site on an extended basis, but you should know that it is there.)

Think Tanks (Here is a compilation of links to many of the organizations (from the left, center, and right) that perform analysis and policy evaluation on international issues)

Election World (a site that tracks and provides information on elections around the world)

International Foundation for Election Systems (NGO that assists nations in developing election systems)

For general information on foreign nations you can use:

• the US State Department Country Background Notes;
• US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook;

The International Crisis Group is a non-profit organization that analyzes and publishes reports on social, political, and economic issues all over the globe

News

Of course, following international events has been made easier with many news services now on line.

There are also on-line services that report from all around the world. One of the best is the BBC World Service (British Broadcasting Corporation).

World News Network is an excellent site with links to newspaper articles from all over the world, indexed by region and subject