Sometimes Americans, especially during elections season, can put our blinders on, only focusing on our own country. Gary Johnson, to use an extreme example, is running for President and doesn't know whats going on in the world. Whether its the Aleppo gaffe or world-leaders-he-admires gaffe, it seems Johnson doesn't know much about what's going on outside the United States. Don’t be like Gary Johnson. Even if you’re not running for President (or if you don’t plan to) it's always good to know what's going on in other countries around the world. Here’s what you need to know about some key countries and the leaders that govern them.

North America

Canada

The dreamy darling of progressives Justin Trudeau has made headlines for appointing an incredibly diverse cabinet and for taking selfies with seemingly everybody (including a man suspected of conducting a stabbing. Yikes). He hails from the left of center Liberal Party of Canada replacing a Stephen Harper last year. He is known for his warm acceptance of refugees, vague progressive platitudes and charisma, though he is not known to be the brightest man alive.

Mexico

Gary Johnson said last week he likes former Mexican President Vincente Fox, even though he forgot his name. The man who took over for him, Enrique Peña Nieto, is not quite as popular in his country with an astoundingly low 23% approval rating and considered to be a bit of a gaffe-prone doof. You may have heard about him recently in the news for his gambit of inviting a Trump to a meeting and press conference in Mexico. Seems to be a bold move that didn’t help much. Who knew inviting a man over who called your country’s people rapists wouldn’t be good for your popularity?

Europe

France

Francois Hollande leads the social democratic French Socialist party in France. Holland’s politics are most like Bernie Sanders yet the charisma of a pea. He isn’t incredibly popular right now with an incredibly low 15% approval rating. It is possible Hollande has deeply damaged social democracy in France due to his unpopularity. The winner of the conservative party primary, which includes former Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, is likely to win the general election in the spring of 2017.

Germany

Angela Merkel leads a moderate center-right party, a bit like a who John Kasich had his own party. Merkel, also like Kasich, used to be on the more ideological right who is now a pragmatic centrist working with both sides. Merkel has critics on both sides internationally, From the left, she helped to sink the Greek Economy and allowing the resettlement of 100,000 Syrian refugees in Germany. Despite critics on the left and right, she’s a pretty safe pick for admirable world leader as a status quo protecting technocratic European leader who is respected across the political spectrum, as shown by Clinton naming her as the world leader she admires the most.

England

After the Brexit vote, in which the nation chose to leave the European union, the conservative party’s leader David Cameron stepped down as promised. This left Teresa May, the boring conservative member of parliament who campaigned for Leave as the choice for leader of the conservative party, and is thus the country’s Prime minister. A good comparison for May’s politics and political trajectory are most similar to Florida Senator and former presidential candidate, Marco Rubio, both rock-ribbed conservatives with respect from both sides of the aisle due to their message and style. May should be at the helm for a while as the Labour party engages in infighting over a popular among voters and less so among Members of Parliament, Jeremy Corbyn.

Asia

Japan

Shinzo Abe is a center-right leader of what is called the Liberal Democratic Party and Prime minister for the 3rd time. The second in line in a political dynasty, Abe has had an easier time getting elected than to get the country to support the entirety of his agenda. Abe is known for his economic stimulus plans, known as Abeconomics, and rebuilding of the country's military in order to counter China’s dominance in the region.

China

Xi Jinping has undertaken anti-corruption measures since taking office in 2013 and is generally considered to be an improvement over his predecessor, especially from a western perspective. He has had better relationship with the U.S and has slightly softened the country's communist ways towards more of a State Capitalist system. China’s South China Sea adventurism and the passage of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) are things to look for in China’s future politically.

Philippines

The Philippines has recently elected Rodrigo Duerte and he is already causing controversy. What is Duerte like? Think The Punisher from Marvel comics combined with Rudy Giuliani turned up about seventeen notches. He has been accused of killing political dissidents in his former role as a mayor, wants to root out crime through cruel tactics. He also said he wanted to kill drug dealers like Hitler killed Jews (he has since apologized) Yeah, the President of the Philippines is off his rocker. Either way, the guy is bad news and implementation of of Duerte’s vision and inevitable backlash to his ways is something to nervously watch.

The Middle East

Syria

There's not much to like about Bashar Al-Assad. Once thought to be a Reformer who the U.S could work with, since around 2009, he has been ruthlessly killing civilians. Worse, he doesn't really have much control of his country right now, mainly controlling the western part of the country with the rest of it in ISIS, Kurdish forces and Al-Qaeda off-shoot hands. Assad should nominally be in power. He will be in power for the foreseeable future as the priority for outside forces is getting rid of ISIS.

Turkey

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (the G is pronounced like a W, just so you don't sound silly) is yet another disappointing former ostensible reformer. After a past as an Islamist, he modernized, secularized and liberalized in the early 2000’s. Increasingly, he has taken an authoritarian turn, curtailing press and internet Freedom as political dissent and ISIS have weakened Turkish sense of safety. The failed Coup d'état this summer could cause him to head further down his illiberal path, or could also provide a wake-up call.

South America

Brazil

The ousting of now former President Dilma Russeff by the Senate has put Brazil’s government in the hands of Michael Temer. Temer, The center-right leader has a problem with legitimacy due to his taking power without an election via impeachment. The country also faces economic turmoil, corruption and high crime, a fact that has been brushed under the rug as of late due to the recent Rio Olympics.

Venezuela

The Hugo Chavez disciple Nicolas Maduro was elected in 2013 after Hugo Chavez’s death as leader of the Socialist Party of Venezuela. Lately you may have seen headlines you see about them not being able to buy toilet paper and pictures of empty grocery stores. These pictures and articles are often outdated, exploitative or misleading, or all three. However, their country is legitimately in bad shape with high crime, high poverty and many protests resulting from such situations. We'll see how much longer Maduro stays in power and if he can help to turn Venezuela around.