June 2013 - Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Pakistan demands end to U.S. drone strikes -- for the ninth time

In his inaugural remarks as prime minister on Wednesday, Nawaz Sharif called for an end to U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan. "The chapter of daily drone attacks should stop," he told the Pakistani parliament. "We respect sovereignty of other...

Published Wed, Jun 05 2013 2:20 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Pakistan, Diplomacy, Politics, Taliban, U.S. Foreign Policy, South Asia, Military, International Relations

5 highlights from Susan Rice's diplomatic career

As John Hudson points out at The Cable, Susan Rice has pulled off a remarkable professional comeback. Just six months ago, the U.N. ambassador withdrew her name from consideration for secretary of state amid intense opposition from congressional Republicans...

Published Wed, Jun 05 2013 1:15 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: United Nations, U.S. Foreign Policy, Libya

Turkish protesters have invented a new verb: 'chapul'

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Ergodan hasn't exactly been conciliatory toward protesters over the past week, condemning "extremists" and "bandits" for trying to destabilize the country. He also strongly objects to Twitter...

Published Wed, Jun 05 2013 11:50 AM by FP Passport

Why Michelle Obama shouldn't meet with Peng Liyuan

On Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to California for a two-day summit with President Obama. Xi will bring his wife, Peng Liyuan, but Michelle Obama will remain in Washington with her daughters, who are finishing the school year this week...

Published Wed, Jun 05 2013 9:00 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Obama to select Susan Rice as next national security advisor

Obama to select Susan Rice as next national security advisor Top news: In a major reshuffling of the White House's top national security staff, President Obama plans to announce later today that National Security Advisor Tom Donilon is stepping down...

Published Wed, Jun 05 2013 5:42 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Australian minister too drunk to debate

Drinking at work: it's an ancient and venerable tradition, and one that enjoyed a great deal of popularity in the United States not too long ago. While the practice is still popular in continental Europe, American office culture has in recent decades...

Published Tue, Jun 04 2013 3:36 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Diplomacy, Fun Stuff, Pacific

Occupy Istanbul? Turkish Spring? The Turkish protest name game

It's hard to believe it all started over a park . With tens of thousands of Turkish citizens laying claim to the streets of Istanbul and several other major cities, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces the most serious challenge of his 10-year...

Published Tue, Jun 04 2013 2:00 PM by FP Passport

Syrian Electronic Army steps up attacks on opposition Facebook pages

The Syrian Electronic Army, a hacking group affiliated with Bashar al-Assad's regime, has over the past three days launched an intense attack on Facebook pages affiliated with the Syrian opposition, according to a new report from the SecDev Foundation's...

Published Tue, Jun 04 2013 12:00 PM by FP Passport

Turkish protests test Obama's close friendship with Erdogan

World leaders don't always have the liberty of choosing their allies, but they do get to pick their friends. And while Barack Obama has been criticized for his Vulcan-style diplomacy, the U.S. president has made a few buddies in office. Now, as anti...

Published Tue, Jun 04 2013 11:00 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Diplomacy, Middle East, Obama Administration, U.S. Foreign Policy, International Relations, Turkey, Barack Obama

When Turkish food and protests collide

Care for a side of red hot chili peppers and ironic social commentary with your protests? The photo that went viral this week of a policeman pepper-spraying a young woman in a red dress in Istanbul inspired a response from an unlikely place: the food...

Published Tue, Jun 04 2013 10:06 AM by FP Passport

Umbrellas and renovations: The not-so-subtle ways Chinese officials keep people from commemorating Tiananmen

On June 4, 1990, one year after Chinese soldiers massacred protesters in Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government dispatched a police convoy to pacify hundreds of demonstrators at Peking University in northwest Beijing. Instead of directly criticizing...

Published Tue, Jun 04 2013 8:00 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Turkey's deputy prime minister apologizes for crackdown

Turkey's deputy prime minister apologizes for crackdown Top news: Turkey's main public sector trade union threw its weight behind the ongoing anti-government demonstrations on Tuesday, announcing a two-day strike to protest the "fascism"...

Published Tue, Jun 04 2013 5:40 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

The protests the Turkish press isn't talking about

What's happening in Turkey? If you're actually in the country, that may be hard to tell, since many Turkish news outlets have stayed relatively quiet on the spread of protests and clashes with police across the country. While scenes from Istanbul...

Published Mon, Jun 03 2013 4:40 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Politics, Media, Turkey

Cheer up: The world has plenty of long words beyond rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz

Monday brought unexpected news (news, as you'll notice above, that's difficult to squeeze into a standard headline): In scrapping a requirement to test healthy cattle for mad cow disease, the European Union also set in motion the demise of Germany's...

Published Mon, Jun 03 2013 3:30 PM by FP Passport

The Turkish revolution will be Vined

What began as a protest in Istanbul over a government plan to develop the city's last central green space has mushroomed into nationwide protests marked by violent clashes between protesters and police, who have used tear gas and water cannons to...

Published Mon, Jun 03 2013 12:00 PM by FP Passport