Use diplomatic links as a jumping-off point for locating many government Internet sites.

Diplomatic and information services websites have a number of advantages when trying to locate foreign government information:

• The pages are designed to convey a country's political or business stance to the public. Therefore, the sites generally concentrate on up-to-date information designed for a general audience. You are likely to find more policy briefs than in-depth studies of issues.
• Many diplomatic missions attempt either to keep a comprehensive list of government Internet sites in their home country or to serve as the main jump-off points from their home governments. Even if the only link is to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the home country, you will often pick up the trail to other government Internet sites from the ministry pages.
• Pages for links to U.S.-based embassies, consulates, and information offices will be in English. Be aware that once you leave those links, the other government links most likely will be in the home country's native language.

Here are some good Web sites with comprehensive lists of U.S.-based diplomatic missions and information services: