In the days before the Internet, the general public had to rely on the reporters who attended daily briefings at the State and Defense Departments for information about U.S. involvement in world affairs. Today, anyone with access to the World Wide Web can not only download material from those briefings, but also access an almost unlimited amount of additional online resources and perspectives. Using your Web-searching skills, find the sites that provide you with this access to policy-relevant information.

Do you want to know more about a particular country or foreign policy issue that you are curious about? Here are some potential starting points.

• If you are interested in a specific country, begin by visiting the Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook web site at www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html.
  
  
• If you want to find out about U.S. foreign policy topics, start at the U.S. State Department's policy web site (www.state.gov/www/policy.html).

U.S. military forces are stationed all over the world. Some of those forces have established web sites to help families stay in touch and to provide information to anyone who might be curious about the mission or status of the operation. You can start your search for these web sites at the U.S. Defense Department's information web site, www.defenselink.mil/.