What We Can't Forget

What We Can't Forget

This year, domestic issues have been the champions of the national discussion. From the health care debate and the nomination of Elena Kagen to the Wall Street debacle and the BP oil spill, the American conversation has been, quite rightfully, basically dominated by domestic problems. However, it is imperative that the foreign conflicts the US is involved in around the world are not forgotten by the American public.
As North and South Korea grow more polarized this week, world news have made a slight return to the American media. Still, when was the last time you heard a serious news report about the Iraqi conflict? After all of the controversy last year about a surge, Afganistan and Pakistan are no longer major news presences.
What does a lack of world coverage mean for America? Americans will become completely uninformed about our nation's international interactions if this pattern continues. Without an informed public, democracy could fail, for no outrage over poor decisions will act as a check over the government.
Pseudo-foreign policy issues could return the international conflicts to the spotlight.  As Don't Ask Don't Tell is discussed more frequently, it's possible that stories about the international conflicts will follow. However, this is not guaranteed. It's possible that we will continue to simply hear stories about our national debates- which are very important, but do not excuse the absence of an entire faction of news.
This isn't to say that foreign news has disappeared completely. Some stations and papers do a better job than others, but, as a whole, foreign reporting has decreased- and not just over the past bit of time. This is a trend that has been on this path for decades.
There is no way to impart how important it is for the American public to be educated about foreign issues. America is seriously involved in many parts of the world- and not just in the Middle East. If Americans do not know fully about their country's actions, there is no way for the federal government to have a proper check on it. Without a proper check, America will become a country with unrestrained executive power.