Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Poland Now Taking Heat for CIA Torture

A spectre is haunting Poland -- the spectre of George W. Bush. In the years following 9/11, as the White House accelerated efforts to strike back at al Qaeda, the CIA detained two high-ranking al Qaeda operatives, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah...

Published Wed, Dec 04 2013 7:43 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: al Qaeda, Europe, Security, Human Rights, Eastern Europe, Bush's Legacy, Bush Administration, International Organizations

This American Life retracts Apple story from China

Oops. Public radio show This American Life announced early today that they could no longer stand by an episode they broadcast in January featuring Mike Daisey, the author of a popular monologue about Apple supplier Foxconn in China. A Marketplace reporter...

Published Fri, Mar 16 2012 12:29 PM by FP Passport

Amsterdam's Plan to Pay Alcoholics in Beer is Just 'Dutch Pragmatism'

An unusual Dutch initiative aims to put an end to one of Amsterdam's worst nuisances -- those bawdy, loitering alcoholics -- by employing them in a kind of street cleaning corps. The problem, though, is that the state-financed Rainbow Foundation behind...

Published Wed, Nov 20 2013 7:25 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe

Are the Haqqanis next on Pakistan's hit list?

View Larger Map New York Times journalist David Rohde's account of his kidnapping and subsequent escape from Taliban militants affiliated with the Haqqani network in North Waziristan region of Pakistan makes for riveting reading. It's an amazing...

Published Thu, Oct 22 2009 5:49 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Terrorism, Pakistan, U.S. Foreign Policy, South Asia

Meet the Handsome Japanese Reporter Stealing the Show in Bangkok

Just call him the Japanese Anderson Cooper. With his tight black t-shirt, dashing safety gear, and steely gaze, Fuji Television reporter Daijimo Enamia is a younger, East Asian version of CNN's famed Silver Fox. Who wouldn't be distracted from...

Published Thu, Feb 06 2014 12:42 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: East Asia, Elections, Media, Fun Stuff

Secret Cameramen Reveal North Korea's Tiny Rebellions

When director James Jones set out to make a film about life inside North Korea, he decided early on that it would be pointless to go there himself. "I knew if we went to North Korea we'd get what you've seen 100 times: the official tour,...

Published Tue, Jan 14 2014 5:14 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: North Korea, Human Rights, East Asia, Media

Guess who else got their hands on some Libyan weapons?

Christian Caryl wrote yesterday on the possibility that the collapse of Muammar al-Qaddafi's regime in Libya -- and the flood of suddenly available weaponry that resulted -- may be at the root of Mali's current crisis. Not surprisingly, as Reuters...

Published Thu, Apr 12 2012 10:31 AM by FP Passport

Decline Watch: Vietnamese businessmen buy Wyoming town

The "town" -- which is really more of a "gas station" -- of Buford, Wyoming, has a new owner : The population of the least populous town in the United States appeared to at least double Thursday when two mysterious businessmen from...

Published Thu, Apr 05 2012 1:38 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Decline Watch

Far-Right Nationalists Brawl With Communists in Ukrainian Parliament

"You are today doing everything to intimidate people. You arrest people, start fighting people who have a different point of view." Those were the words of Petro Symonenko, a Communist deputy, in Kiev's parliament Tuesday. He was addressing...

Published Tue, Apr 08 2014 8:10 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Eastern Europe, Ukraine

Civil War Came to London, and You Won't Believe What This Little Girl Did Next

Actually, you will. After her neighborhood turned into a war zone, she fled along with her parents. They became refugees, scavenging for food and dodging gun fire. They became sick, and their diseases went untreated. The family was split up, the father...

Published Wed, Mar 05 2014 2:34 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, Foreign Aid, Syria

Educate boys, or they'll go to war

A World Bank research paper posted today finds that countries with a high proportion of young males with low levels of secondary education are significantly more conflict-prone. The combination of these "youth bulges" and low rates of secondary...

Published Mon, Nov 09 2009 2:23 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Africa, Foreign Aid, Education, Development, Economics

Berlusconi loses immunity

After Silvio Berlusconi's lawyers broke out the "Animal Farm" defense that the prime minister should be first above equals, the Constitutional Court had heard enough, and today they stripped Berlusconi of his immunity. The prime minister's...

Published Wed, Oct 07 2009 10:12 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Corruption, Justice

Palestinian President Abbas Appoints Head of Unity Government

A Time-lapse Map of Protests Sweeping China in 1989

The 'Beijing Spring' was never just about Beijing. Read More...

Published Tue, Jun 03 2014 12:46 PM by Foreign Policy

Filed under: Tea Leaf Nation