Johnson’s Aleppo blunder is wake-up call for candidates, especially Trump

Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson’s failure to know what Aleppo is or where it is has generated quite a bit of buzz. (Aleppo is one of the largest and oldest cities in war-torn Syria, a deeply divided and desperate battleground between Syrian government forces and rebel groups. The city is now a humanitarian disaster zone.) You need to know where it is before you formulate a presidential policy on Syria.

{mosads}But here is some good news about Johnson’s faux pas, which is French for an embarrassing mistake. The lack of knowledge on the part of Johnson might just help the two major-party nominees — Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton — with their debate prep, although it must be acknowledged that former Secretary of State Clinton has enough understanding of world geography and global affairs to fill the room. You can count on her not to make such a mistake.

But let’s be fair to Johnson. It is easy to get caught up in one of those challenging A-Z questions that pesky moderators ask. Like what is al-Shabaab (answer: a jihadist terrorist group in East Africa,) or where is Zaire? (Be careful: Zaire is actually the Democratic Republic of the Congo now, although there is nothing democratic about it.)

Trump should be ready for one of those map questions. He should be prepared to talk about the Senkaku Islands, a source of friction in the East China Sea between China and Japan. He better know the difference between Dubai, which is located in the United Arab Emirates, and Doha, which is in Qatar. And he might bone up on what countries actually make up the Gulf, the Middle East and North Africa. (Beyond just which places have golf courses.) And he might want to study the names of presidents of foreign countries, a favorite of moderators who like to “stump” candidates. Just who is the head of Brazil right now? (Dilma Rousseff was ousted.) And just who is the head of Timor-Leste and how do you spell it and just for kicks: What is the current controversy between Australia and Timor-Leste? (Answer: a maritime border dispute.)

Passports or not, most Americans don’t know enough about foreign affairs. They have heard of Brexit. But “B” comes after “A” for Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are currently deployed, so I’d start there and work my way to Zimbabwe. And just so you know, the president of Zimbabwe is Robert Mugabe — sort of. The 92-year-old president just landed back in the country after a mysterious disappearance to get medical treatment in — guess where? Dubai.

The world is messy. So is politics.

Sonenshine is former undersecretary of State for public diplomacy and public affairs. Today she helps young people learn about the world.

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