Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Just How Far Will the Empire Strike Back?

Geert Wilders' American friends

Anthony Deutsch and Mark Hosenball suggest in a new article for Reuters that anti-Islam Dutch politician Geert Wilders' activities are being financially supported -- at least in part -- by anti-Islam groups in the United States: The Middle East Forum...

Published Mon, Sep 10 2012 8:54 AM by FP Passport

Romney, Ryan prioritize Iranian threat over Russian menace

The Obama campaign is still making hay over Mitt Romney's characterization of Russia as America's "number one geopolitical foe," most recently with the movie poster above promoting Senator John Kerry's dig at the Republican nominee...

Published Mon, Sep 10 2012 9:26 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Election 2012, 2012 Election Poster 1, Mitt Romney

What would 9/11 have been like with Twitter?

I asked my Twitter followers this morning what it would have been like had Twitter been around during the Sept. 11 attacks. It seems crazy that only 11 years ago, we didn't even have smart phones integrated with cameras and 3G Internet. There was...

Published Tue, Sep 11 2012 8:47 AM by FP Passport

Netanyahu blasts Obama administration ahead of election

Last week, I pointed out that Republicans and Democrats were both invoking Benjamin Netanyahu's statements to argue that the Israeli prime minister was on their side, even though Netanyahu himself has not explicitly expressed support for either Barack...

Published Tue, Sep 11 2012 12:22 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Election 2012, Barack Obama

Morning Brief: U.S. ambassador killed in Libya

U.S. ambassador killed in Libya Top news: President Obama has confirmed that Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, was killed along with three members of his staff in an attack by an armed mob on the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of...

Published Wed, Sep 12 2012 5:20 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Libya attack overshadows Vanity Fair's big Obama profile

President Obama hasn't mentioned the unpopular Libyan intervention much on the campaign trail, making only a passing reference to the successful operation in his convention speech last week (Senator John Kerry was the only speaker who addressed the...

Published Wed, Sep 12 2012 11:00 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Election 2012, 2012 Election Poster 1, Barack Obama

A tale of two statements

My colleague Marc Lynch argued earlier today: "Today will be a pivotal moment in the urgent debates about how such movements will respond to political power and a stake in the political system." "Libya's leaders thus far look to be...

Published Wed, Sep 12 2012 3:34 PM by FP Passport

The week Europe turned a corner?

With the events in North Africa and the Middle East this week, it's been easy to miss major developments North of the Mediterranean. First, there was some news out of Germany: Germany's supreme court has rejected petitions to block ratification...

Published Thu, Sep 13 2012 2:39 PM by FP Passport

Romney camp scolds Obama campaign for citing Chinese news agency

Yesterday I noted that the Chinese press had yet to respond to Mitt Romney's accusation on the campaign trail and in a new ad that Beijing is cheating by manipulating its currency. Today Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, picked up the gauntlet...

Published Fri, Sep 14 2012 8:08 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Election 2012, Mitt Romney, Barack Obama

Jay-Z raps back at Cuba trip critics: 'Boy from the hood but got White House clearance'

Jay-Z and Beyonce came under fire this week for a trip they took to Cuba -- a vacation that, as I wrote on Tuesday, underscores the rather silly nature of the restrictions imposed on Americans' ability to visit the island nation. The visit has several...

Published Thu, Apr 11 2013 10:20 AM by FP Passport

The strangest thing about Putin's appearance on Finland's secret criminal blacklist

On Wednesday we received the bizarre news that Russian President Vladimir Putin's name had mistakenly ended up on a secret criminal blacklist compiled by Finnish police. Those placed on the list face automatic detainment at the Finnish border and...

Published Thu, Apr 11 2013 3:45 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia, Politics, Eastern Europe, International Relations

Morning Brief: North Korea may have capacity to build nuclear missile

North Korea may have capacity to build nuclear missile Top news: A report issued last month by the Defense Intelligence Agency found, with "moderate confidence," that "North [Korea] currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic...

Published Fri, Apr 12 2013 5:46 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

The toilet paper theory of Chinese international development

In January 2012, Guo Shuqing, then head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, employed an unusual segue to discuss the internationalization of China's securities. Guo's powerful organization, roughly similar to the U.S. Securities and...

Published Fri, Apr 12 2013 11:45 AM by FP Passport

A guide to the Russian officials on the U.S. Magnitsky list

On Friday, the State Department announced the names of Russian officials who will face travel bans and asset freezes under the Magnitsky Act, a law Congress passed last year that tasks the government with identifying Russian human rights abusers. The...

Published Fri, Apr 12 2013 5:00 PM by FP Passport