Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

An explosive scandal in the Caymans

When you see a headline about the premier of the Cayman Islands being arrested in a corruption probe, it's natural to assume it has something to do with the country's lucrative, but often shady offshore banking sector. And indeed, McKeeva Bush...

Published Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:02 AM by FP Passport

Tunisians frustrated but engaged

Just over a year since Tunisia's October 23, 2011 Constituent Assembly elections, long lines of patient citizens who emerged beaming from polls last October have given way to new demonstrations and general strikes -- this time against the Ennahda...

Published Tue, Dec 11 2012 10:50 AM by The Middle East Channel

Filed under: Middle East, North Africa, Middle East Top Story

Reading Turkish politics from a soap opera

Amidst intense public controversy, Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is moving to ban the widely popular television series Muhtesem Yuzyil ( The Magnificent Century ). Critics of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP government...

Published Fri, Dec 07 2012 9:06 AM by The Middle East Channel

Filed under: Eastern Europe, Middle East, Turkey, Democracy, Middle East Poster 2

Chemical red lines on Syria

Despite the estimated 40,000 civilian deaths in the Syrian conflict, the United States has shown little appetite for a Libya-style intervention, this time without United Nations Security Council approval. The Obama administration has been candid, however...

Published Wed, Dec 05 2012 6:22 AM by The Middle East Channel

Filed under: al Qaeda, Middle East, Obama Administration, Bush Administration, North Africa, Syria, Barack Obama, Middle East Poster 4

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

Obama's three options

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE The Obama administration's opposition to yesterday's United Nations General Assembly vote on the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) bid for non-member observer state status once again places...

Published Thu, Nov 29 2012 2:09 PM by The Middle East Channel

Filed under: Diplomacy, Middle East, Israel/Palestine, North Africa, Arab World, Middle East Poster 4

Egyptian labor between Morsi and Mubarak

While few noticed in the midst of an intense political crisis, Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi issued another controversial decree recently: Decree no. 97 of 2012, introducing a few important amendments to Egypt's long-standing 1976 labor law...

Published Wed, Nov 28 2012 12:24 PM by The Middle East Channel

Filed under: Law, Middle East, Economics, Labor, North Africa, Egypt, Middle East Poster 4

Egypt’s President Morsi backpedals to stem crisis

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi worked to diffuse a crisis sparked by a decree extending his powers meeting with the Supreme Judicial Council on Monday. In five hours of talks with senior judges, Morsi appeared to pull back from his attempts to assert...

Published Tue, Nov 27 2012 5:51 AM by The Middle East Channel

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

4 things to keep in mind about 'securing the border'

With President Barack Obama due to pitch his new immigration reform plan today -- a plan that is likely to include a number of new border security measures in addition to providing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants -- the release of...

Published Tue, Jan 29 2013 9:23 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Amid continuing unrest, Egyptian army chief warns of state collapse

Amid continuing unrest, Egyptian army chief warns of state collapse Top news: Egyptians defied curfews in three major cities on Tuesday as clashes with police continued as the head of the Egyptian army warned that unrest could topple the state, the most...

Published Wed, Jan 30 2013 5:46 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Palestinian groups call for SodaStream boycott

SodaStream, the increasingly popular home carbonation system, may seem like a politically innocuous product -- even a virtuous one, as it reduces the number soda bottles consumers have to buy. But an international controversy has erupted over where the...

Published Thu, Jan 31 2013 8:12 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Bombing hits U.S. embassy in Ankara

Bombing hits U.S. embassy in Ankara Top news: On Friday morning, a suicide bombing at the U.S. embassy in Ankara, Turkey, killed at least one person and wounded several others. The bomber detonated at a checkpoint outside the embassy compound. Turkey...

Published Fri, Feb 01 2013 5:47 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Ahmadinejad ready to be the first Iranian in space

A bold claim from the Iranian president: "I am ready to be the first human to be sent to space by Iranian scientists," Ahmadinejad said on Monday, on the sidelines of an exhibition of space achievements in Tehran, according to the Mehr news...

Published Mon, Feb 04 2013 7:57 AM by FP Passport

North Korea releases nuclear destruction video set to 'We Are the World'

With a North Korean nuclear test looming imminently on the horizon, the nation's propaganda machine appears to be in full 1980's-pop-swing. Last weekend, the government uploaded a video to its official website depicting a young Korean man falling...

Published Tue, Feb 05 2013 8:01 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: North Korea, East Asia, Culture, Media, Nukes

Ahmadinejad gets shoe'd in Cairo

Though it's hard to tell what's going on in the video above, apparently it's footage of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad getting a shoe thrown at him outside Cairo's al-Hussein mosque. RT, citing Turkey's Anatolia news agency...

Published Tue, Feb 05 2013 11:49 AM by FP Passport