Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Take a cruise on Hannibal Qaddafi's supervillain yacht

The yacht that Muammar al-Qaddafi's ne'er do well (even by the standards of the Qaddafi family) son was having built for himself was everything you would expect it to be : Replete with marble columns, gold-framed mirrors and huge statues, the...

Published Fri, Mar 16 2012 8:50 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Karzai pushes to speed up U.S. withdrawal

Karzai pushes to speed up U.S. withdrawal Top news: Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a surprise announcement on Thursday, insisting that U.S. troops be confined to bases by the end of this year, and suggesting that the transition of security duties...

Published Fri, Mar 16 2012 5:28 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Beijing's Black Jails

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 This is a guest post from Phelim Kine, a senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. Last Friday, Al Jazeera's China correspondent Melissa Chan dropped in on a "black...

Published Thu, Mar 15 2012 3:10 PM by FP Passport

HIV and malaria return to Greece

Earlier this month, Greek journalist Nick Malkoutzis wrote a piece asking the question, " Is Greece a Failed State? " The title was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but at the Guardian reports, Medecins Sans Frontieres, more accustomed to working in...

Published Thu, Mar 15 2012 2:51 PM by FP Passport

Iran Watch: Israel and Iran agree: Open SESAME

Today's news paints a picture of an Iran increasingly hemmed in by sanctions. SWIFT, a Belgium-based organization that facilitates banking transactions, announced that it will block Iranian banks targeted by EU sanctions, effectively cutting Iran...

Published Thu, Mar 15 2012 2:06 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Iran, Iran Watch

How exactly does Sergei Lavrov define 'provocative'?

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has an interesting definition of the word "provocative." After meeting with Secretary of State Hilary Clinton at the U.N. this week, Lavrov commented on March 14 that the recent resumption of U.S.-Georgia...

Published Thu, Mar 15 2012 12:10 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia, Eastern Europe, Georgia, Military, Caucasus, International Organizations, North Africa, Democracy

Chinese netizens respond to the fall of Bo Xilai

Normal 0 false false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 This is a guest post from Charlie Custer, the founder of Chinageeks.org, a blog that provides analysis and translation of modern China: In the wake of Premier Wen Jiabao's...

Published Thu, Mar 15 2012 8:07 AM by FP Passport

Why Serbia is still bullish on the EU

Responding to the news of recent acceptance of Serbia as a membership candidate for the EU, Alan Sked has a new piece today asking why any country would still want to join the union. I recently discussed this question with Serbia's ambassador to the...

Published Thu, Mar 15 2012 8:01 AM by FP Passport

World Leader March Madness: Last chance

The submissions deadline is at noon (EST) today. Get your brackets in and spread the word. The first four game results will be posted this afternoon. Read More...

Published Thu, Mar 15 2012 7:17 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Top Chinese politician fired

Top Chinese politician fired Top story: Bo Xilai, the controversial Chinese Communist Party chief in the municipality of Chongqing, was fired on Thursday. Chinese news sources reported that he would be replaced as Chongqing party secretary by his deputy...

Published Thu, Mar 15 2012 5:02 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Iran Watch: Window of Opportunity

On Wednesday, President Obama warned that the window for resolving the dispute over Iran's nuclear program "diplomatically is shrinking." Luckily, Iran appears to be poking its head through that very window. Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed...

Published Wed, Mar 14 2012 3:42 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Iran, Iran Watch

Reading Assad's emails

The Guardian appears to have come across a major scoop: a cache of 3,000 emails written by Syrian regime insiders, including President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma. The e-mails were reportedly leaked to a Syrian opposition group by "a mole in...

Published Wed, Mar 14 2012 12:47 PM by FP Passport

Xinhua 'borrows' a Foreign Policy article

In its last print issue , Foreign Policy published an article by Thomas Rid, a reader in war studies at King's college London, arguing that virtual conflict is still more hype than reality . Someone at China's state news agency Xinhua must have...

Published Wed, Mar 14 2012 12:16 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: East Asia, China

Negotiator Betty Bigombe on Kony's 15 minutes

Yesterday, I had the chance to speak with Betty Bigombe about this week's explosion of interest in Joseph Kony. For over two decades, as State Minister for Northern Uganda and as an indpendent negotiator while taking a leave of absence from a job...

Published Wed, Mar 14 2012 12:11 PM by FP Passport

Myanmar's bridge to somewhere

While the United States has only recently made tentative efforts to engage with Myanmar, India has, controversially, had decent relations with the country's government for quite some time. Human rights activists criticized Indian Prime Minister Manmohan...

Published Wed, Mar 14 2012 10:15 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: North America, Drugs & Crime, Diplomacy, Southeast Asia, India