Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

The United States denies Iranian claims of drone capture

The United States quickly denied claims by Iran that its Revolutionary Guards Corps naval forces had captured an unmanned U.S. drone. According to Iranian state television, the aircraft is a Boeing built ScanEagle, which it captured after entering Iranian...

Published Tue, Dec 04 2012 6:09 AM by The Middle East Channel

Filed under: Middle East, North Africa, Arab World, Mideast Brief

Morning Brief: Obama warns Assad over chemical weapons

Obama warns Assad over chemical weapons Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Top news: Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Fighting in Syria intensified on Tuesday as the government of Bashar al-Assad pounded the southern suburbs...

Published Tue, Dec 04 2012 5:49 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Should you wear your Guy Fawkes mask in Dubai this week?

Not unless you want to attract some attention from the fuzz. Dubai authorities warned last month that anyone seen wearing a V For Vendetta mask "risks police questioning". The admonition was mainly directed at anyone who might be planning protests...

Published Mon, Dec 03 2012 11:17 AM by FP Passport

Bahraini Milkshakes

Kim Kardashian's December 1 trip to Bahrain to promote milkshakes brought all the Middle East tweeps to the yard. Her visit attracted both delerious young fans and a raucous protest (reportedly cleared away by the time she arrived ), with conflicting...

Published Mon, Dec 03 2012 9:01 AM by The Middle East Channel

Filed under: Middle East

Twitter advice for the Pope

The Vatican announced today that Pope XVI will begin tweeting under the handle @ Pontifex . Though his first Tweet is not expected until Dec. 12, the English-language papal account already has over 112,000 followers: "We are going to get a spiritual...

Published Mon, Dec 03 2012 8:42 AM by FP Passport

Did Netanyahu or Obama doom the two-state solution?

With his decision to oppose the U.N. General Assembly's granting Palestine non-member state observer status, U.S. President Barack Obama leaves no doubt he is not modifying his pre-election position that "There is no daylight between Israel and...

Published Mon, Dec 03 2012 7:55 AM by The Middle East Channel

Filed under: Middle East, Israel/Palestine, Arab World, Thumbs, Middle East Poster 4

The political crisis deepens between Egypt’s judges and President Morsi

The political crisis between Egypt's judges and President Mohamed Morsi worsens as the Judge's Club said on Sunday it will not supervise a December 15 referendum on a constitution draft passed by the Islamist dominated Constituent Assembly on...

Published Mon, Dec 03 2012 6:13 AM by The Middle East Channel

Filed under: Middle East, North Africa, Arab World, Mideast Brief

Morning Brief: Egypt's constitutional crisis deepens

Egypt's constitutional crisis deepens Top news: Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court suspended its operations on Sunday, delaying a ruling on the legitimacy of two Islamist-dominated bodies: the constituent assembly that recently drafted a controversial...

Published Mon, Dec 03 2012 5:35 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Failing Syria's refugees

-- The Middle East Channel Editor's Blog -- There are plenty of strong reasons for the United States and the international community to remain deeply cautious about taking a deeper role in Syria's internal war. Concerns about the nature of the...

Published Sun, Dec 02 2012 7:27 AM by The Middle East Channel

Filed under: Security, Middle East, North Africa, Middle East Editors Blog

See Tom Donilon discuss the toughest challenges in U.S. foreign policy

C-Span has uploaded video of National Security Advisor Tom Donilon's remarks at yesterday's "Transformational Trends" forum cohosted by Foreign Policy and the State Department's Policy Planning staff. In the candid, nearly hour-long...

Published Fri, Nov 30 2012 2:05 PM by FP Passport

Why did the State Department blow up a tree on the Mall today?

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 In the spirit of diplomacy and Christmas, not necessarily in that order, the U.S. State Department tried to explode a large, coniferous tree today. Actually, it was contemporary...

Published Fri, Nov 30 2012 1:49 PM by FP Passport

Mexico's muzzled, globetrotting former presidents

This weekend brings a major political transition in Mexico, as Enrique Peña Nieto succeeds Felipe Calderón and returns the once-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to the presidency for the first time in more than a decade. As for Calderón...

Published Fri, Nov 30 2012 1:41 PM by FP Passport

Guest post: Will China go to war in January 2013?

Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Interesting times indeed. This is a guest post from Michael Auslin, a scholar in Asian and security studies at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. "The provincial...

Published Fri, Nov 30 2012 11:45 AM by FP Passport

Hillary Clinton on Iran, Syria, the drug war, and why she went to Togo

In a speech and remarkably candid Q&A session on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reflected on the broad trends that will transform U.S. foreign policy while addressing today's most pressing issues, including the Syrian crisis...

Published Fri, Nov 30 2012 8:52 AM by FP Passport

A message from Ai Weiwei

The artist, dissident, and provocateur Ai Weiwei has been prohibited from leaving China since last April, when police held him in an isolation cell for 81 days. Passing the time was "impossible," he told me in an interview last year. "I...

Published Fri, Nov 30 2012 7:00 AM by FP Passport