The aftershocks of Wall Street's turmoil have left few corners of the globe unscathed. Russian stocks have been hit particularly hard, with the RTS index falling more than 11% in a single trading session today. It was the worst one day plunge in Moscow since 1998, prompting a halt in trading. On the heels of the conflict in Georgia and the recent plunge commodity prices, Russian shares have now lost more than 40% of their value over the past three months according to MSCI Barra.

If you think it's frustrating when your computer crashes, just be glad you're not running the London Stock Exchange. Trading in Europe's biggest stock market was suspended nearly all day after a system failure. When trading eventually resumed, British stocks ended the day up almost 4%. But London wasn't the only market affected by the outage. Trading in South Africa was also suspended because the Johannesburg Stock Exchange also uses London's technology platform to handle its trade processing.

After a blistering 36% surge last year, emerging market stocks are bleeding red ink. As of Sept. 5, the MSCI emerging markets index is down 30% since the start of the year. China and India - among the best-performing markets in 2007 - are now down 40% year-to-date.

As gut-wrenching as this volatility may be, it's important to keep the long-term perspective in mind when looking at emerging markets. Over the past 10 years, emerging markets have returned nearly 14% a year on an annualized basis, even after factoring in this year's steep plunge. By comparison, stocks in the U.S. and Europe have returned less than 3% annually over the same stretch. Emerging markets may be risky, but over the long haul they have rewarded patient investors.

Business is business, whether you're in Baltimore or Bangladesh. But you may be surprised to learn that accountants don't speak a common language worldwide. That may soon be changing. Under a new proposal by the Securities and Exchange Commission, some U.S. companies may begin using international accounting standards as soon as 2010.

The SEC's move is a huge endorsement for International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS as it's known for short. In recent years, IFRS has been gaining momentum around the world, with more than 100 countries using these principles. But as long as regulators in the U.S., the world's biggest securities market, weren't using IFRS, it was questionable whether or not it could be considered a truly global standard.

While IFRS isn't perfect, it makes life a lot easier for international investors. One of the most frequently cited concerns about international investing is that differing accounting standards are used worldwide. As a result, it can be hard for investors to make "apples to apples" comparisons between, say, a U.K. company and its Japanese competitors. With the adoption of IFRS, it will be easier than ever for investors to compare the performance of companies in their portfolios.

While China's Olympic team has collected the lion's share of gold medals thus far at the Beijing games, its stock market isn't taking home any prizes. Down 11% since the start of the month, Chinese stocks have lost more than 33% of their value since the start of the year.

But some Chinese companies - Vision China Media, Netease.com, and Gushan Environmental Energy - to name a few, are among the best-performing international stocks this year. What gives? Part of the problem is that the "Chinese market" is actually several markets, and it's important to understand the many different types of Chinese stocks before you invest.

Investors in Turkish stocks have had a wild ride in 2008. After plunging 45% in the first six months of the year, the Istanbul market surged nearly 30% in the month of July. What gives?

Turkey is a great example of the importance of understanding political risk. One of the big reasons for Turkey's extreme volatility this year had almost nothing to do with its economic or corporate fundamentals. Instead, it was a court decision.

In a nutshell, Turkish prosecutors attempted to ban the country's ruling party, the AKP. Just imagine Federal prosecutors in the U.S. arguing that the Republican Party is unconstitutional. It's a loose analogy, but you get the picture. It would have caused complete political chaos.

Instead, Turkey's highest court vote against the ban, narrowly avoiding a major crisis. Investors breathed a sigh of relief, and shares recouped some of this year's losses. The Economist.com's country briefing on Turkey goes into a lot more detail than my simple explanation here, but the message is clear. Don't ignore political risk!

It wasn’t long ago that investing in the Middle East was off-limits to small investors. In fact, it was even pretty tough for pension funds and other professional investors too. But all that is changing rapidly. Investing in the Middle East is quickly becoming as easy as buying shares of IBM or Coca-Cola.

Several newly-created exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer access to stock markets in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and several other countries. The latest to join the club is Van Eck’s Market Vector Gulf States Fund (ticker: MES). The portfolio is designed to mimic the performance of the Dow Jones GCC Titans 40 index. ETF Trends has a list of 5 others that invest in the region.

The internet offers a wealth of resources for investors seeking stock prices and financial information on international companies. But one piece of the puzzle that's often missing is the ability to hear what management is thinking. Sure, you can watch CNBC, but those interviews rarely offer more than short sound bites.

One interesting alternative is Cantos, a London-based website that broadcasts interviews with chief executives and other senior managers of some of the world's largest companies. You can even download interviews in podcast form. Best of all: Cantos is free.

The investment world lost one of its greatest minds this week. Sir John Templeton passed away on Tuesday at age 95. Templeton, who was born in the U.S. but later became a British subject after moving to the Bahamas, probably did more than anyone else to teach Americans the importance of global diversification. Those who listened to his advice or invested in his funds over the years were handsomely rewarded.

Obituary writers have chronicled the Templeton story well, but there's no substitute for hearing it from Templeton himself. In this 1997 interview with Charlie Rose, Templeton explains how a Tennessee farm boy became the world's most famous global investor. Templeton will be missed, but his wisdom will live on.

Forbes Magazine's latest International Investing issue has a lot of great advice on how to navigate global markets. One of the stories lists five "Best Buy" international funds. The Forbes list is unique because it doesn't just include the "hottest" funds ranked solely on performance.

Instead, the Forbes ranking takes into account how funds have done in both up and down markets. It also factors in the fund expenses and brokerage commissions, which eat into your returns. The result is 5 solid international funds that have stood the test of time.