-Argentina Beautiful architecture blended with a sordid political history of strongmen and prick despots. Football. Women. Jorge Borges. Evita.
-Brazil G-string bikinis. Rainforest on fire. Resorts. Women. Sugarcane-gasoline. Death squad police and gangs.
-Chile “The mothers of the disappeared” (Pinochet and coups). Again, beautiful and clean modern cities contrasting peasants and herders.
-Uruguay Tin pot dictatorships. Cloths. Not much else.
-Colombia Cocaine and Pablo. Perpetual civil Wars and a tortured country. “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel García Márquez. Shakira.
-Mexico A Tale of Two (societies). Billionaires and abject poverty by the masses. Corrupt police. Drug wars. Beer, food. Women. History and interesting culture. Illegal immigrants.
-USA Electing idiots. Power and the misuse of it. Cultural diversity and cultural juggernaut whether anyone likes it or not. Huge military spending. We’re the smartest people in the world. We’re the dumbest people in the world.
-Canada Beauty. Strippers. Beer. Hockey. Great city in Toronto. And a lot of cultural infusion into the US. I do like Canada…
-Spain Civil War. Modern Euro state coming to terms with its past.
-France Great culture. Food. Love hate relationships. Liberty and equality. Existentialism and philosophy. Great thinkers like Sartre, Foucault. Mixed military record and pride, extreme courage contrasted with supreme stupidity…
-Germany Sausage, sauerkraut and potato pancakes.
Beer. Mixed history of great cultural intellectual accomplishment contrasting hideous ignorance. Disciplined, Prussian military ideal. Good humored people that make great cars, appliances.
-Austria Germany’s mellow, easy-going little brother. Schizophrenic politics (had an ex-Nazi war criminal as president, but throw David Irving in jail over speech). Arnold Schwarzenegger. Neutral spy land in Vienna. Sigmund Freud. The Alps.
-Sweden Abba. Volvo, Saab - nice cars and jet fighters. Blond women and a progressive society. Neutral and independent.
-Italy Great food, wine and cultural influence in the US. Beautiful, if impractical, cars and bikes. Fiery women. Mafia. Built on ruins of Rome, Etruscan civilization. The Alps. Mixed culture.
-England Great musical tradition. A lot of emphasis on culture, literature, and education. Beer, gin. Love hate relationship with the US.
-Czech Republic Skoda. Weapons. Prague.
-Ukraine Seeking autonomy. A guy I work with. Kiev. Black Sea. Proximity to Russia.
-Russia Emerging power. Vast expanse of wilderness and urbanity. Recovering and yet retrograding. Oil, gasoline, and vodka.
-China Wal-Mart, cheap consumer products. Shaky quality, and greed. Excellent culture. Food (even if it is Americanized).
-Japan A contradiction,embracing American culture but hanging on to the old ways. Sushi and Saki. Electronics and great cars. Modernism personified.
-Saudi Arabia Strange, closed repressive religious society run by corrupt, decadent monarchists. Our friend and enemy. Oil. Oil. Oil…
-Lebanon Contrast in cultures and battleground in the middle east. Beirut. Modern city and ancient blood feud civil wars. Byzantine culture of double-dealing…
-South afrika Modern state, ancient state. Huge contrast between civilized, modern cities and backwards cultural schisms. Huge potential met with huge question mark.
-Israel So refined yet so ruthless. Single minded and stubborn. Strong military and security establishment undermined by shortsightedness.
-Australia. Mad Max. Shrimp on the barbie and silly, steak Aussie-themed restaurants in the US. Ruggedness. AFL. Deserts, Jungles, and coastal beaches all mixed up. Cultural throwback in rural areas. yet urbane cosmopolitan suburban cities. Beer.
-New Zealand Sheep. Similar to Australia but not quite.
