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Stateless Somalia is attempting to re-legitimize itself by creating a new electoral process for the 2016 election. Somalia's next president will be elected on November 30th. Some interesting aspects to note is that this election is not universal, but putting a process in place is the country's first step to developing universal elections by 2020 and creating more political participation.

I think it is especially interesting how hard they are trying to get female representation (1 of ever 3 seats in the House of the People will be contested by only women, 30% of seats in the upper house reserved for women, 16 of 51 delegates required to be women, registration to be a candidate is half as much for women compared to men). I appreciate that they are trying to get diverse representation, but did they go so far as to be a little patronizing? I don't know enough about Somalia to answer, but I'm curious what you think.

Really cool representation of India's rise, but also the inequality when the article mentions the "unconnected billion"

It will be interesting to see what type of role India plays diplomatically as the United States begins to favor the Indian economy.

Interesting to see how globalization has affected indian society. From what we learned about their protective economy to their shift to a more liberalized one.

This is a funny representation of how Americans view Europe. I think that there are definitely parts of it that are fairly accurate. What parts do you think are accurate? What does it tell you about stereotypes?

Having been in Spanish class since elementary school and through those classes studying Spanish Culture I cannot tell you how many times people blend the spanish people (people from spain) and mexican people (people from mexico) as spanish. To my understanding they both speak spanish and are both hispanic but originate from vastly different cultures. It is ignorant of us to call all spanish speaking people Spaniards.

This article talks about the next eight countries trying to gain entry into the EU. The most likely country to join the EU is Croatia and they may be approved as early as 2011. Each of the countries that applied as some internal issues they have to work out before they will be admitted. The process of being admitted is interesting to me because the countries first have to submit and application, get confirmed as a candidate, and then they begin talks. In the case of Turkey, the process has been going on since 1987.

I had no idea that it was this difficult to become a member of the European Union - being confirmed as a candidate can take more than a decade. Poor Turkey began the process 23 years ago, and is expected to require at least 10 more years to be fully prepared for membership. What an endeavor!

I think this is very interesting and I cannot agree with Jack more. When these countries are thinking only with their pocket books it is hard to be genuinely welcoming to other nations. In my opinion, making Turkey wait 20+ years to join is far too long and a bit ridiculous especially when you compare it to the time other countries had to wait. Croatia joined in less than 5. Very unfair...

very cool infographics on the effect of the recession on EU nations

This article/graphic poses an interesting but subliminal question about the future of the European Union, or t least its fiscal stability. Started as the unifier of Europe, the EU rests on shaky ground; lacking a powerful central authority with which it can enforce its rules, the ability for the EU to maintain itself is through the combined cooperation of European nations. This article points out that these countries have "failed to follow their own [economic] laws," with "Greece as the biggest offender." If the trend continues towards a disrespect for the EU's laws by the member countries, there could be far more Greece-like economic situations in Europe, it seems, thus jeopardizing the future of the organization.

I love graphic representations of Information! Nice find, Curtis! As a point of comparison, The United States has a national debt of 8.68 trillion. In the U.S., this is 60.8 percent of the American GDP. Source: www.visualeconomics.com › All Infographics

Syria's street protests may seem unified against Baathist oppression, but the rebel national councils are having trouble compromising with such diverse representation of all of Syria's numerous religious and ethnic groups.

Provides visual representation of the parasites and diseases caused by insufficient clean water sources and poor sanitation in Sierra Leone

Maps clearly and simply illustrate the progress ISIS is making in Syria and Iraq over time, labeled as "ISIS sanctuaries". This way you can have a visual representation of ISIS's power because the land they control often is oil-rich, so with it come people and capital.

Also, I don't know if this counts as comparative politics (it compares states within the U.S., not different countries), but I still think this is an interesting representation of how diverse gun policies are within the U.S. and how that affects gun violence.