Editing The West Wing (section)

===Foreign===
While several real-world leaders exist in the show's universe, most foreign countries depicted or referred to on the show have fictional rulers. Real people mentioned on ''The West Wing'' include [[Muammar Gaddafi]], [[Yasser Arafat]], [[Fidel Castro]], [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]], [[House of Chakri|King]] [[Bhumibol Adulyadej]], [[Monarch of Sweden|King]] [[Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden|Carl XVI Gustaf]], [[Thabo Mbeki]], and [[Osama bin Laden]].

Entire countries are invented as composite pictures that epitomize many of the problems that plague real nations in certain areas of the world:
* Qumar is a fictional, oil-rich, powerful, Middle Eastern state. A former British protectorate now ruled by a [[sultan]] and his family, it hosts a major US airbase and is frequently a source of trouble for the Bartlet administration. The nation is [[The Women of Qumar|first introduced]] in the third season as a close ally of the United States but is criticized for its harsh treatment of women. After the [[September 11 attacks]], it became a major venue for the show's terrorism subplots, including one where convincing evidence is discovered that Qumari Defense Minister Shareef is planning terrorist acts against U.S. infrastructure, including a failed conspiracy to destroy the [[Golden Gate Bridge]], and President Bartlet authorizes his assassination by a covert operations team.  Geographically, as it is depicted on maps, it roughly corresponds to the [[Hormozgan Province]] of [[Iran]].
* Equatorial Kundu is a fictional African nation introduced early in the second season as one blighted by a rife [[AIDS]] epidemic, a ''coup d'état'', and an ensuing civil war, resembling the 1994 [[Rwandan genocide]]. Its location, when depicted on maps, is roughly that of [[Equatorial Guinea]]. President Bartlet launches a military intervention in Equatorial Kundu during the fourth season in order to put an end to ethnic cleansing. Equatorial Kundu is also used during the third season of Sorkin's later television series ''[[The Newsroom (American TV series)|The Newsroom]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://tvline.com/2014/11/09/the-newsroom-boston-marathon-bombing-season-3-premiere/ |title=''Newsroom'' Premiere Recap: Boston, Bridesmaids and ACN's Brutal Future |work=TVLine |first=Kimberly |last=Roots |date=November 9, 2014 |access-date=December 18, 2014 |archive-date=December 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207062257/http://tvline.com/2014/11/09/the-newsroom-boston-marathon-bombing-season-3-premiere/ |url-status=live }}</ref>