Country Research (my country is the USA)

Find out general geographic, political, and economic information about the country you are
representing. Questions to explore include:
a. What resources does your country have or not have and how does that influence
interactions with countries near or far from them?
-The U.S. has abundant supplies of coal, copper, lead, iron, natural gas, timber, bauxite,
and uranium. 18% of the land in the U.S. is arable land. The US has the world's largest
reserves of coal, at 491 billion short tons or 27% of the total.
b. What type of government does your country have? (democracy? dictatorship?
communist? socialist?)
-democratic republic
c. What countries does your country ally itself with?
-japan, morocco, canada, australia, UK, france, italy, ireland, israel, norway, and more
(https://brilliantmaps.com/us-allies-enemies/ )
d. What is the status of your country's economy? Are you considered a developing,
lesser developed, or highly developed country?
-The economy of the United States is a highly developed country with a mixed economy.
It is the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and net wealth and the second-largest
by purchasing power parity (PPP).
e. What's your Human Development Index (HDI) rating? What are your chief
exports?
-In 2019, the USA's HDI number was .926
chief exports:
-Food, beverage and feed: $133 billion. ...
-Crude oil, fuel and other petroleum products: $109 billion
-Civilian aircraft and aircraft engines: $99 billion
-Auto parts, engines and car tires: $86 billion
-Industrial machines: $57 billion
-Passenger cars: $53 billion
-Pharmaceuticals: $51 billion

f. How do your government and your people feel about globalization?

-Globalization has a positive impact because it enables the US to increase trade in
services, manufacturing, agricultural and food products, it enables Americans to buy
cheaper and more abundant consumer goods, and it creates more U.S. jobs.
g. What do the World Bank and IMF reports say about your country? (Are you a
contributor or a receiver of $?)
 -Through the World Bank Group, the United States participates in addressing vital
international development challenges. The United States has a long history of generously
supporting the World Bank Group's mission and has been a champion of the International
Development Association (IDA), which provides low interest loans and grants to the
world’s poorest countries. (contributor)
h. What are the big important parts of your country's history?
-American Revolution, The Civil War (slavery + segregation), 9/11, Assasination of
Kennedy and Lincoln, Moonlanding
i. What are the top 5 issues in your country at the moment?
- 1) Affordability of health care 2) Drug Addition 3) Affordability of a college education
4) Federal budget deficit 5) Climate change 6) Economic Inequality 7) Racism 8) Illegal
Immigration 9) Terrorism 10) Sexism
(https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/12/17/views-of-the-major-problems-facing-t
he-country/ )

List of sources/links to help in country and topic research

Note: Some of these news websites may require registration (it's free) and registering is
definitely worth your while.

* UN General Assembly
* CIA World Factbook, US State Department, British Foreign Ministry
* BBC News, BBC Country Profiles
* The Economist News
* Google News
* the official government site for your country, particularly their foreign ministry site or
equivalent if available
* the Permanent Missions to the UN Site
* the Foreign Ministry (or equivalent) site for your nation
* NYT News
* Washington Post News
* Transparency International NGOs discussing corruption in governments
* geo.worldbank.org (Great place to start before looking at World Bank)
* World Bank, IMF
* Organization of American States
* Globalization Index
* Economic Freedoms Index
* Freedomhouse ranking of democratic and political freedoms
* UN main website, from there you can access particular committees
* Library of Congress Country Studies
* US Institute for Peace (Peace Agreement Database)
* World Economic Forum
* International Crisis Group

UN Peacekeeping Operations
UN Millenium Development Goals
UN Declaration of Universal Human Rights
UN Security Council
Disarmament
World Health Organization
Economic and Social Council
UN and Human Rights
UN Development Program
Duke University NGO database