June 2013 - Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Spain's latest headache: orange thefts

With the economic crisis in Spain (and Europe as a whole) showing few signs of abating, it probably shouldn't come as a surprise that robberies are on the rise in the country. This is especially true in Spain's agricultural eastern regions, where...

Published Tue, Jun 11 2013 3:00 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Drugs & Crime, Food/Agriculture, Economics

Do Europeans really care more about privacy than Americans?

Reports about the National Security Agency's PRISM program -- through which U.S. intelligence officials have access to the private communications of technology users -- have sparked fierce outrage in Europe, where leaders have long butted heads with...

Published Tue, Jun 11 2013 2:30 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Culture, Obama Administration, Intelligence

Why are Congolese rebels praising Nelson Mandela on Twitter?

Nelson Mandela is back in the news this week with the announcement that he's once again in the hospital and in fragile condition . And while the legacy of the former South African president and anti-apartheid revolutionary leader is open to debate...

Published Tue, Jun 11 2013 11:30 AM by FP Passport

Ai Weiwei says U.S. surveillance reminds him of China

Chinese activist Ai Weiwei has had his share of experience with heavy-handed treatment by the government, having been detained for 81 days by China's secret police in 2011. Now the Beijing-based artist says another country reminds him of China: the...

Published Tue, Jun 11 2013 10:20 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: China

The NSA's PRISM slides get a makeover

When the Washington Post and the Guardian revealed the existence of the NSA intelligence-gathering program PRISM last week, they both relied on a set of horrifically bad slides reportedly prepared by the agency and presented to a group of senior analysts...

Published Tue, Jun 11 2013 8:09 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Intelligence

Morning Brief: Clashes erupt as riot police clear Istanbul square

Clashes erupt as riot police clear Istanbul square Top news: Clashes erupted in Istanbul's Taksim Square early on Tuesday as riot police attempted to clear hundreds of demonstrators from the area using tear gas and water cannons. The protests, which...

Published Tue, Jun 11 2013 5:53 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Google chief wrote about 'terrifying' surveillance months before NSA leaks

Before defending the U.S. government's surveillance apparatus -- as he did last week -- Eric Schmidt wasn't so blasé about government snooping. In an overlooked chapter of his recently released book The New Digital Age , Google's executive...

Published Tue, Jun 11 2013 5:00 AM by FP Passport

Meet the next leader of the biggest little country in the Middle East

Though Qatar is small -- tinier and less populous than the state of Connecticut -- it has established itself as a rising power in the Middle East. Its state-owned news network, Al Jazeera, influences the entire Arabic-speaking world (and beyond -- its...

Published Mon, Jun 10 2013 2:20 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Diplomacy, Politics, Middle East, U.S. Foreign Policy, International Relations

Does the PRISM leak expose the NSA's surveillance program to legal challenge?

Edward Snowden, the 29-year-old NSA contractor behind the PRISM leak, broke his long silence last week because he wanted Americans to know just how completely their privacy has been eviscerated in the name of security. "My sole motive is to inform...

Published Mon, Jun 10 2013 10:50 AM by FP Passport

BuzzFeed hires Miriam Elder as foreign editor

In December 2011, when Ben Smith , the high-octane reporter and blogger for Politico , jumped ship to become the editor of BuzzFeed, a site then better known for viral slideshows and cat videos, many in the world of political journalism wondered if Smith...

Published Mon, Jun 10 2013 6:15 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: NSA source goes public

NSA source goes public Top news: The source behind last week's revelations of vast communications surveillance operations by the National Security Administration has identified himself. Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former undercover CIA employee...

Published Mon, Jun 10 2013 5:23 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

This is, hands down, the scariest part of the NSA revelations

Forget PRISM, the National Security Agency's system to help extract data from Google, Facebook, and the like. The more frightening secret program unearthed by the NSA leaks is the gathering and storing of millions of phone records and phone-location...

Published Mon, Jun 10 2013 4:20 AM by FP Passport

The risky legal strategy behind Edward Snowden's flight to Hong Kong

With his decision to flee to Hong Kong , Edward Snowden, the whistleblower behind the bombshell leak that exposed a highly classified U.S. intelligence program, has taken a serious legal risk, one that may very well result in his extradition to the United...

Published Sun, Jun 09 2013 9:30 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: China, National Security

The Obama administration just can't seem to pivot to Asia

Ever since the Obama administration first rolled out its signature Asia pivot policy , the effort seemed ambitious. The United States was wrapping up its war in Iraq and still surging troops in Afghanistan -- and yet, policymakers planned to "rebalance"...

Published Fri, Jun 07 2013 5:00 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: East Asia, China, Obama Administration, U.S. Foreign Policy, Military, International Relations, Southeast Asia, Defense Budget

The PRISM spin war has begun

The war over how to spin revelations of the National Security Agency's latest spying program has officially begun. On the heels of media reports that the NSA has gained access to the servers of nine leading tech companies -- enabling the spy agency...

Published Fri, Jun 07 2013 4:15 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: National Security