Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Seth Rogen will try to kill Kim Jong Un in next movie

North Korea is getting the Hollywood treatment yet again. But this time, instead of puppets , actors Seth Rogen and James Franco are taking on the Hermit Kingdom in a film entitled The Interview . "James and Seth play reporters who get an interview...

Published Wed, Jun 05 2013 3:30 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: North Korea, East Asia, Culture, Media

Where are the sons?

Reuters reports on the suspected whereabouts of Saif al-Islam: Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam is believed to be still at large in Libya's desert, a member of the National Transitional Council said on Thursday after NTC officials said the...

Published Thu, Oct 20 2011 7:01 AM by FP Passport

Destruction of world slightly less likely

There's not a whole lot to feel good about in the headlines today, but the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is feeling a bit more optimistic about the world, and has moved its famous Doomsday Clock one minute back to "six minutes to midnight...

Published Thu, Jan 14 2010 8:09 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Environment, Nukes

You can't shock the conscience of someone who has none

David Addington We here at Passport don't like to harp; there's too much going on in the world to dwell on any one particular story. And personally, shrillness just isn't my style. Yet I have to comment this astonishing series of articles...

Published Mon, Jun 25 2007 8:18 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Law, U.S. Foreign Policy, Bush Administration

What do Copenhagen protestors want?

In the absence of real progress to report, news coverage of the ongoing U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen has lately begun to focus on the protestors. Here is what we know: There are a lot of them (estimates range from 50,000 to 100,000 ). They've...

Published Thu, Dec 17 2009 8:01 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Environment

Israel gets in on The War on Christmas

Businesses just can't win this holiday season. In the US, if part of your sales pitch doesn't include mention of the birth of Jesus, onto Bill O'Reilly's blacklist you will go. This never made a lot of sense to me, as I struggle to see...

Published Thu, Dec 10 2009 2:33 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Culture, Middle East, globalization

Introducing the 2013 Gelber Prize finalists: today's nominees, Michael R. Gordon and Bernard E. Trainor

Over the next few weeks, we're going to be featuring one interview per day with the authors of the books nominated for this year's Lionel Gelber Prize, a literary award for the year's best non-fiction book in English on foreign affairs. The...

Published Fri, Feb 15 2013 9:13 AM by FP Passport

How are Palestinians reacting to Israel’s ‘Palestinian-only’ buses?

On Monday, the Israeli government launched a new bus service to shuttle Palestinian day laborers from the West Bank town of Qalqiliya to Israeli cities where they are employed. Ynet outlined the reasons behind the two new lines, which have only been advertised...

Published Mon, Mar 04 2013 2:50 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Politics, Middle East, Media, Israel/Palestine

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad Wins Re-Election

Casting Call: Who Should Play Snowden and Greenwald?

The Egyptian revolution devours its children

Wael Ghonim, the Google marketing executive who famously cofounded the "We Are All Khaled Saeed" Facebook page that helped spark the Egyptian revolution, is facing heat today for some comments he made on Twitter -- as well as resentment of his...

Published Wed, May 18 2011 10:55 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, Egypt

Bin Laden’s link to Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen: What’s new?

The New York Times is reporting today that a cell phone recovered from Osama bin Laden's safe house "contained contacts" to the militant group Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen (HUM), which has longstanding ties to Pakistan's intelligence agency...

Published Fri, Jun 24 2011 9:21 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: al Qaeda, Pakistan, Afghanistan, South Asia

Should the U.S. arm the Libyan rebels?

Now that the no-fly zone debate seems to have been settled on the ground in Libya -- it clearly halted an impending massacre in Benghazi, and seems to have given embattled residents in Misrata and Zintan a reprieve -- if not in the U.S. Congress, discussion...

Published Sat, Mar 26 2011 4:47 AM by FP Passport

Why '2 Broke Girls' Is All the Rage in China

In China's battle between cupcakes and Communists , the cupcakes appear to be winning. While Chinese President Xi Jinping promotes the "Chinese Dream" of national rejuvenation with mixed success , the U.S. sitcom 2 Broke Girls has drawn...

Published Fri, Oct 25 2013 9:00 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: East Asia, China, Fun Stuff, Economics

Dutch police go undercover as Jews to bust anti-Semites

When hate crimes strike the Dutch capital, the police officers head to the costume store. Amsterdam's law enforcement regularly disguises themselves as members of a persecuted faction, patrols the streets incognito, and then arrests any violent perpetrators...

Published Tue, Jun 22 2010 9:26 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Justice, Drugs & Crime, Israel/Palestine