http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/10/russia-iran-sanctions-summit.html

I know I post a lot of article from al-monitor, but I think they’re well written and come from a good variety of authors with different backgrounds. This was an interesting article about Iranian-Russian relations. I assumed Russia and Iran were buddies, but this article illustrates the tensions in their relationship, with grudges going as far back to before Texas was even a state (which really made me realize how young the U.S. is). However, Russia and Iran play it cool because of common strategic interests in regards to South Caucasus (a place a really don’t know anything about) and attitudes towards Western and Israeli presence. The author described their relationship as “a classic Eastern-style game of speaking softly, disagreeing tacitly and behind-the-scenes deals on issues of mutual long-term interest even when the immediate concerns diverge.” In other words, “compelled adversaries, pragmatic pals”.

http://www.globescan.com/images/images/pressreleases/bbc2013_country_ratings/2013_country_rating_poll_bbc_globescan.pdf

This wasn’t exactly an article, but it was an interesting poll about countries’s views of other countries that was referenced in the previous article. Perhaps a little skewed because it’s the BBC and boasted climbing ratings for the UK, but it was interesting to think about why countries view each other the way they do given historical contexts. I think world views are powerful and kinda weird.