Gordon Brown can’t even watch his DVDs
You know what sucks? Flying all the way to Washington for a high-profile meeting with the U.S. president only to get the cold shoulder. You know what’s worse? Getting him a rare and thoughtful gift and getting a bunch of DVDs in return. You know what’s even worse than that? Not even being able to ...
You know what sucks? Flying all the way to Washington for a high-profile meeting with the U.S. president only to get the cold shoulder. You know what's worse? Getting him a rare and thoughtful gift and getting a bunch of DVDs in return. You know what's even worse than that? Not even being able to watch the DVDs.
The Telegraph reports that when Brown recently settled in for the night to watch Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, he got a "wrong region" message on his screen. Turns out the DVDs Obama had given him were formatted to play on North American players.
You know what sucks? Flying all the way to Washington for a high-profile meeting with the U.S. president only to get the cold shoulder. You know what’s worse? Getting him a rare and thoughtful gift and getting a bunch of DVDs in return. You know what’s even worse than that? Not even being able to watch the DVDs.
The Telegraph reports that when Brown recently settled in for the night to watch Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, he got a “wrong region” message on his screen. Turns out the DVDs Obama had given him were formatted to play on North American players.
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
More from Foreign Policy


Is Cold War Inevitable?
A new biography of George Kennan, the father of containment, raises questions about whether the old Cold War—and the emerging one with China—could have been avoided.


So You Want to Buy an Ambassadorship
The United States is the only Western government that routinely rewards mega-donors with top diplomatic posts.


Can China Pull Off Its Charm Offensive?
Why Beijing’s foreign-policy reset will—or won’t—work out.


Turkey’s Problem Isn’t Sweden. It’s the United States.
Erdogan has focused on Stockholm’s stance toward Kurdish exile groups, but Ankara’s real demand is the end of U.S. support for Kurds in Syria.