Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

News you might have missed: Iran considers annexing Azerbaijan (again)

Journalists have had their hands full this week with reports of Iran's fake time machine , not to mention the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that shook the country's south. But somehow, in all the excitement, an Iranian proposal to annex Azerbaijan...

Published Fri, Apr 12 2013 2:10 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Diplomacy, Media, History, Central Asia, Borders, Iran

Americans hate the Muslim Brotherhood

What is the first thought that comes to mind when you think of the Muslim Brotherhood? According to a new Zogby poll , there's one word that wins by a mile when you ask Americans: "Terrorists." The survey, which was commissioned by the Arab...

Published Mon, Apr 15 2013 6:24 AM by FP Passport

Could falcons be the latest innovation in drone warfare?

Last time we checked in with Pakistan's falcon population, we reported on the surprising, feel-good story of how the Taliban have saved the fearsome birds in the tribal areas by fueling violence that has scared off poachers. Now there's a new...

Published Mon, Apr 15 2013 12:00 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Pakistan, Fun Stuff, South Asia, India

Reading these Boston Marathon tweets is like getting punched in the gut

Boston Globe reporter Billy Baker was on the scene of the marathon explosion. Watch as his tweets go from inspirational to horrifying in mere minutes: After 2 hours atop Heartbreak Hill, starting to see the struggling runners, cramping and crying, inspiring...

Published Mon, Apr 15 2013 1:08 PM by FP Passport

Mystery solved: John Kerry really ate turkey shwarma

John Kerry may have met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the peace process on Thursday, but what's really gotten commentators worked up is the contents of the shwarma he consumed during an impromptu snack in Ramallah. Reputable...

Published Fri, May 24 2013 9:42 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, Fun Stuff, Israel/Palestine, Food/Agriculture

WikiLeaks hits back at documentary with 'annotated transcript'

Last week, I interviewed Alex Gibney, director of the new documentary We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks . Gibney told me he found it ironic that Julian Assange and supporters like Oliver Stone were attacking his film without having seen it. "The...

Published Fri, May 24 2013 2:49 PM by FP Passport

Pakistan is planning its own version of 'Glee'

Glee , the hit U.S. TV show, has won fans the world over for its ability to tackle the hard issues of adolescence -- homosexuality, bullying, teen pregnancy -- through the ever-accessible music of Lady Gaga and Britney Spears. And it seems Pakistani television...

Published Tue, May 28 2013 10:30 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Pakistan, South Asia

A brief history of congressional freelancing on foreign policy

After clandestinely slipping into Syria on Monday for a series of meetings over fresh juice and cherries with rebel commanders, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) became the highest-ranking U.S. official -- besides the U.S. ambassador to Syria -- to enter the country...

Published Tue, May 28 2013 4:50 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: U.S. Foreign Policy, U.S. Congress

China's coming for our bacon

China's pork hegemony is turning into pork imperialism. (Imporkialism?) With more than 446 million pigs -- one for every three citizens of the world's most populous country and more than the next 43 countries combined -- pork is a big deal for...

Published Wed, May 29 2013 2:00 PM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Assad claims Russia delivered S-300 missiles

Assad claims Russia delivered S-300 missiles Top news: Syrian President Bashar al Assad claimed in an interview to be aired today on Al Manar, a television channel owned by Lebanese Hezbollah, that his government received a shipment of S-300 air defense...

Published Thu, May 30 2013 5:50 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Why does Australia's prime minister keep getting hit with sandwiches?

Politicians are used to being targets. Hostile media, political rivals, and would-be assassins all figure in the daily threat assessments for public figures. But Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has recently been battling a menace of a distinctly...

Published Thu, May 30 2013 11:00 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Fun Stuff, Pacific, Australia

Saudi Arabia bans Guy Fawkes masks for 'instilling culture of violence'

Saudi Arabia has a foolproof plan to staunch revolutionary rumblings. On Thursday, the Saudi newspaper al-Medina reported that the country's Ministry of the Interior has banned the import and sale of the Guy Fawkes masks from the graphic novel and...

Published Thu, May 30 2013 3:30 PM by FP Passport

The U.N. wants you to eat some jellyfish with those insects

On Thursday, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) offered the citizens of the world a suggestion about how to counteract harmful jellyfish overpopulation, which has been exacerbated in recent years by factors such as overfishing and climate change...

Published Fri, May 31 2013 10:00 AM by FP Passport

Why Turks are fighting to take back Istanbul

When Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave a speech in Washington two weeks ago, he didn't dwell on the crisis in Syria or the Middle East peace process. Instead, he wanted to talk about a construction project: His government had recently...

Published Sun, Jun 02 2013 4:46 AM by FP Passport

No, really, cancel Haiti's debt

Over at the Center for Global Development's blog, David Roodman argues that calls to cancel Haiti's debt (currently around $1.25 billion) are misguided. The question is whether to go further than debt service suspension, to drop Haiti's debt...

Published Mon, Feb 01 2010 1:35 PM by FP Passport