Food for Thought

Few things are simple about international relations. The world's most studied state-to-state interactions are the result of decades, if not centuries, of political decision-making that labels some states allies and others enemies. But international policy analyst Chris Fair sees a simpler way to understand why some countries are the way they are: the food they eat. Her new book, "Cuisines of the Axis of Evil and Other Irritating States: A Dinner Party Approach to International Relations," Fair argues that a nation's cuisine is the perfect lens to view what its people think is important and, as a result, how its leaders will act. As such, she says, one can better understand particularly indefensible states, like the flagship Axis of Evil members—Iran, Iraq and until recently North Korea—and a handful of others, including India, Israel and the U.S. —all of which can be the source of political (and gastronomic) tension.

With food necessary for survival and also the source of pride, Fair looks at what people consider edible around the world to how they form collective opinions. A former United Nations political affairs officer, she dished on foreign policy to Newsweek's Daniel Stone. Excerpts:

How can a nation's food describe its place in the world?
There are some countries for which the project of becoming more established in nationhood can be read through food. In Israel, for example, you see shirts, postcards, dedicated to promoting the falafel as the national food. The Arabs, of course, say that's utter nonsense. The food that is designated the national food says a lot about how that nation interacts internally and how it wants to be seen from the outside.

What does that mean for the U.S. with no real national food?
On one hand, it says we're a culture of diasporas. But we do have national foods.

Like what?
Things like fried chicken or pork, anything with a pig. I grew up on sausage, biscuits and gravy.  Don't forget Spam. Those are particular examples that mark our history, going back to what we were like during the Depression.

Can food explain how countries interact?
An interesting indicator of historical relationships is what countries consider to be cheap food. Usually that reflects some imperial history with the country that produces cheap food. When you go to the Netherlands, you eat Indonesian food. When you go to France, you're eating the stuff from northern Africa. In England, it's curry. In Japan, it's Korean. And in the U.S., it's Mexican. So when you go to these countries and see what the fast food of popular choice is, it usually represents a deeper political history.