Intro to Global Politics?

I'm 21 and I'm embarrassed to say it, but I just realized a few days ago that I know NOTHING about WTF is going on in the world.  I barely know anything about what's going on in my own country, let alone in the Middle East, China, or Russia. I have no idea WHO is fighting, let alone what about.

What would be a good place to find a good, detailed introduction? I tried wikipedia, but there's just too much information presented at once there and I really have no idea where to start.

I've never really been into History classes and current events and such, and have avoided them when at all possible (I don't even watch the news or read the paper, ffs), but I think it's time I grow the fuck up and take a look at the world around me.

Any advice would be appreciated.

>>1

Iran = dirka dirka terrorist nuclear threat against Israel and the US. Stop asking questions.

That is all you need to know.

JEWS DID WTC

BUSH IS SOSHALIST

For a detailed intro, I would a pick up an introductory contemporary history textbook, but I don't have any to recommend. To get up to date on what's happening right now, you can watch the international news on TV. Don't watch the local news or 24-hour news channels, those are terrible. Also, there's a free newspaper available here that I read on the subway, maybe there's something like that where you are?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_International

About wikipedia, I would just look up conflicts one at a time as you hear about them. Just reading the article's header is enough.

>>5
Don't listen to this.
Wikipedia is garbage.
Go to drudgereport.com.

>>2
>>3
>>4
This is all you're getting from /newpol/. You may start tomorrow.

>>1
>>7 is right, except he doesn't realise these people are trolls.

>>1
Well there are totalitarianisms (fascists/communists), military dictatorships, illiberal democracies (one party states, limited representation, limited function of representatives), corrupt liberal democracies and liberal democracies. Then there are 3rd world economies (shit holes), 2nd world economies (building it's industries), emerging economies (upgrading it's technology) and 1st world economies (us).

Get an Atlas and look left to right.

USA and Canada: 1st world liberal democracies.
Mexico and south : Emerging corrupt liberal democracies.
Everything else in the Americas and Caribbean is a 2nd world corrupt liberal democracy except Cuba (2nd world military dictatorship) and Haiti (3rd world military dictatorship).

Most of europe: 1st world liberal democracies.
North eastern europe: Emerging corrupt liberal democracies.
South eastern europe and turkey: 2nd world corrupt liberal.

North Africa, Sudan and Arabia: 2nd world illiberal.
South Africa: emerging corrupt liberal
Nigeria and Zambia: 2nd world extremely corrupt liberal
Rest of Africa: tapestry of 3rd world illiberals, extremely corrupt liberals and military dictatorships

Central asia including Iran and Pakistan: 2nd world corrupt liberal, Iran is illiberal.
Russia: emerging corrupt liberal
India: emerging in the cities, 2nd world in the countryside and east, corrupt liberal
China: emerging illiberal
Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Japan: 1st world liberal

South-east asia and Bangladesh: Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia are 3rd world military dictatorships; Vietnam is a 2nd world military dictatorship; Bangladesh is 2nd world corrupt liberal; Thailand is an emerging corrupt liberal

Malay Archipelago and oceania: 2nd world corrupt liberal
Australia and New Zealand: 1st world liberal

oops
Mexico and south : Emerging corrupt liberal democracies.

should be

Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela: Emerging corrupt liberal democracies.

Oh and North Korea is totalitarianist 2nd world, the last one left I think.

>>1
If you are going to follow a retarded spoon-fed classification scheme like >>9, don't even start.

>>12
troll harder

>>13
Cry harder.

XTH WORLD!!! ILLIBRAL1!!! I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW THINGS WORK SO I'M MIXING UP IRRELEVANT TERMINOLOGIES AND OBSOLETE CONCEPTS!!!

>>14
illiberal
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=illiberal&meta=
1 - 10 of about 544,000

1st world, 2nd world, 3rd world
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=%221st+world%22+%222nd+world%22+%223rd+world%22&meta=
Results 1 - 10 of about 9,420

It's over 9000 therefore I win.

>>14
>IRRELEVANT TERMINOLOGIES AND OBSOLETE CONCEPTS
>>15
>google search, I WINN!!!!!!!!!!!

oh man...

>>16
I was kidding because when someone makes claims but doesn't back them up I can't take them seriously. I didn't realise you actually cared.

>>17
It's ironic because you were the one who made a retarded claim with no substance, which was exposed with a simple post, and all the "backing up" you could do with that pathetic mind was a google-search, not even understanding what was the problem. But, I think you went that way because you were owned previously in a similar manner, too bad you didn't have the intelligence to understand the underlying reason, so yet once again you even fail at copying.

So, >>1 should realize that politics is a field which can attract the most ignorant and retarded, with bullshit arguments stemming from their aforementioned ignorance, because I think it makes them feel important, or better, I don't know. Why else would someone insist so much on exposing his ignorance repeatedly?

>>18
Ok then.