stupid python question

Simple (I think?) Python problem here.

Is there anyway to use a string the user inputs as a variable?

e.g., if a user inputs "var1", how can I then go and call something(var1) without using if/elif.

Here is a longer example of what I want to do; get the user to define "NATION" and then assign a random name from that nation's set of names.

http://pastebin.com/cHL9NqqX

The actual thing I'm writing will have tons of nationalities, so I'm hoping to skip the huge elif tree that would result.

Saw this thread on /g/ an hour ago or so, everyone there were trying to sound like an expert and said ``Yeah definitely use raw_input, input is unsafe as it tries to run the command the user inputs'' instead of reading the OP.