Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

The Olympics and human rights: Here we go again

In a Washington Post op-ed piece today, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker makes the case for using the 2014 Sochi Olympics as leverage to win conessions from Russia in the Caucasus: Few are suggesting that the United States and Europe boycott...

Published Tue, May 25 2010 9:52 AM by FP Passport

Now you, too, can dress like Yukio Hatoyama

We don't usually do product endorsements on Passport, but I feel an exception is warranted in this case. Last week, I wrote about how Japan's fasionistas were giving Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama a hard time over this multi-colored shirt. I was...

Published Wed, May 26 2010 10:13 AM by FP Passport

Quiz: How much steel did the world's No. 2 country produce?

Steel has been in the news lately because the newly unveiled, bizarre-looking , 2012 Olympic mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville , are supposed to have been made out of the last two drops of British steel used to construct the 2012 London Olympic stadium...

Published Wed, May 26 2010 1:35 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Olympics, Foreign Policy magazine

Another headache for Hariri

Sure, there are plenty of people who have it worse than billionaire Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri. But as someone whose government is marginalized in large parts of Lebanon, whose interests are ignored internationally, and who -- if the history...

Published Wed, May 26 2010 2:42 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, Lebanon

Which way to Mecca?

An embarrassing slip-up by Indonesia's top religious authority: A cleric from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) admitted the body made a mistake last March when calculating where Muslims should turn to when praying. He said new instructions had now...

Published Mon, Jul 19 2010 9:38 AM by FP Passport

How well does the Gates Foundation model actually work?

Much has been made of the "new model" of aid attached to the Gates Foundation -- rapidly becoming one of the biggest players in the global development scene. It is supposed to be innovative, agile, and private-sector influenced in a way that...

Published Mon, Jul 19 2010 1:30 PM by FP Passport

Obama's problem isn't likability

According to Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, Barack Obama's biggest problem and the reason for his sagging poll numbers isn't the still-high unemployment rate or the oil in the Gulf, it's that -- unlike the Gipper -- folks just don't...

Published Tue, Jul 20 2010 8:19 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Politics

Morning Brief: China reels from severe floods and worsening oil spill

China reels from severe floods and worsening oil spill Top news: At least 700 people have been killed in flooding caused by torrential rain in China this year and more than 300 are still missing -- the worst toll in more than a decade -- and another severe...

Published Wed, Jul 21 2010 5:49 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

U.S. Labor Department blacklists Russian pornography

Yesterday, the U.S. department of Labor published an updated list of "products that federal contractors must certify under... are not produced with forced or indentured child labor." The list is maintained with the reasonable goal of making...

Published Wed, Jul 21 2010 9:37 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia

So Kosovo is legal. What happens now?

The International Court of Justice ruled today that Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia is legal under international law. Here's the AP write-up: The nonbinding opinion by the International Court of Justice sets the stage for...

Published Thu, Jul 22 2010 11:42 AM by FP Passport

What's inside these boxes? - by Brian Fung

Neither side will ever admit it, but North Korea has another friend in Asia other than China: Last year India exported roughly $1 billion to North Korea, up from an average of barely $100 million in the middle of the past decade, reports the Confederation...

Published Fri, Jul 23 2010 12:28 PM by FP Passport

Afghanistan is not Sweden

I've already said I was underwhelmed by the Wikileaks docu-dump on the Afghan war, and Peter Feaver and Dan Drezner have also weighed in with similar takes. As Drezner puts it, "So it turns out that the war in Afghanistan is not going well and...

Published Mon, Jul 26 2010 9:43 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Afghanistan

No Castros, but Cuba's still kickin' it old-school

For the first time in memory, neither Fidel nor Raul Castro addressed the annual Revolution Day rally in Havan yesterday. Raul was at the event but left the main speech to First Vice President Jose Ramon Machado. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who...

Published Tue, Jul 27 2010 9:54 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Congress approves war funding

Congress approves war funding Top news: The U.S. House of Represenatatives approved a bill yesterday to provide an additional $37 billion to fund the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The measure, which had strong Republican support after a series of...

Published Wed, Jul 28 2010 6:00 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

BlackBerrys in UAE deemed threat to national security

BlackBerry phones may be unwelcome guests at dinner parties, in class, or at the movies, but in the UAE, the smartphones have recently been labeled a "security threat." "As a result of how Blackberry data is managed and stored, in their...

Published Wed, Jul 28 2010 4:54 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Science & Technology, Security, Middle East, Intelligence