I would think that the Asian countries, Japan, China, Malaysia etc. Would have the customs that seem most foreign to Americans. There are many books written about business culture and making sure you don't send the wrong signal when you meet with business men from Asia. I happen to find the Middle East most interesting when it comes to terms of personal interaction and their ideas of heirarchy among peers.
The show Lie to Me had an interesting scenario, where they met a group of Middle Eastern politicos and the one with the highest stature entered the room last.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.