Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Clinton on Internet freedom

You can read the full text of Secretary Clinton's address on Internet freedom here as well as commentary from Evgeny Morozov and highlights on the Cable. I was able to attend the speech at the Newseum and from where I sat, Clinton's speech seemed...

Published Thu, Jan 21 2010 9:51 AM by FP Passport

The surge: civilian contractors in Afghanistan?

Justin Elliott at Talking Points Memo reports on a Congressional Research Service report out today, showing the dramatic surge in civilian contractors working in Afghanistan. Contractors now account for a nearly a third of the armed forces in the country...

Published Thu, Jan 21 2010 7:50 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Humanitarian crisis in Haiti continues

Humanitarian crisis in Haiti continues Top Story: The humanitarian crisis continues in Haiti after two large earthquakes struck near the population center of Port-au-Prince, one eight days ago, one yesterday. Aid workers are preparing mass graves as disease...

Published Thu, Jan 21 2010 6:26 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Which country has the most special operations forces?

For those of you who don't subscribe to the bimonthly print edition of Foreign Policy , you're missing a great feature: the FP Quiz. It has eight intriguing questions about how the world works. The question I'd like to highlight this week...

Published Wed, Jan 20 2010 3:45 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Military, Foreign Policy magazine

Why Sanjay Gupta did the right thing

Washington Post reporter Ian Shapira, referring to an incident where CNN medical expert Sanjay Gupta actually began treating patients in Haiti, asks , "Are reporters with backgrounds in medicine being show-offs when they simultaneously report on...

Published Wed, Jan 20 2010 3:26 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Disasters, Latin America, Media

Russia's Pat Robertson

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I apparently agrees with U.S. preacher Pat Robertson that Haitians brought the earthquake on themselves: Kirill, speaking during a weekend visit to Kazakhstan, said the Haitian people bore responsibility for the calamity...

Published Wed, Jan 20 2010 2:28 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia, Religion, Haiti's Disaster

Checking in on the rest of the world

The tragedy in Haiti has been a rare instance where the attention of the U.S. public has been intensely focused on an event overseas. But with Scott Brown's ascendancy, attention has swiftly shifted back to domestic politics. (Wolf Blitzer looked...

Published Wed, Jan 20 2010 2:09 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Media

Congress rehashes the pants bomber fail

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 This morning, members of congress questioned key counterterrorism officials about the Pantsbomber and Ft. Hood incidents. The Senate Homeland Security Committee heard testimony...

Published Wed, Jan 20 2010 1:44 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Terrorism

Chile's Billy Carter?

Every world leader, it seems, has that one member of the family he'd rather not see getting too much press. Jimmy Carter had Billy. Hamid Karzai has Ahmad Wali. Bill Clinton had Roger. Behold, Miguel "El Negro" Piñera, the brother of Chile's...

Published Wed, Jan 20 2010 11:34 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Latin America

Is Barack Obama now the president of Haiti?

Tyler Cowen worries that the Obama's presidency may come to be defined by the chaos in Haiti: Obama now stands a higher chance of being a one-term President. Foreign aid programs are especially unpopular, especially relative to their small fiscal...

Published Wed, Jan 20 2010 10:43 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Haiti's Disaster

Was Scott Brown's victory a win for Netanyahu?

Aluf Benn argues in Haaretz that the upset in Massachusetts is a victory for Israel's prime minister: Over the past nine months, Netanyahu has managed to curb pressure from Obama, who enjoys a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress. Now, however...

Published Wed, Jan 20 2010 9:33 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Israel/Palestine, U.S. Congress

Propaganda in action

Chris Blattman flags a fascinating new paper from David Yanagizaw of Stockholm University that attempts to quantify the influence of the infamous Radio Milles Collines during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Here's the abstract: To identify causal effects...

Published Wed, Jan 20 2010 9:17 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: New earthquake hits Haiti

New earthquake hits Haiti Top story: A new 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti this morning, the largest aftershock yet after last week's quake, which killed an estimated 200,000 people. The quake sent people fleeing into the streets in terror, but...

Published Wed, Jan 20 2010 5:46 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Too much baggage?

U.S. President Barack Obama's nominee to head the Transportation Security Administration, Erroll Southers, has withdrawn his name from consideration for the job. Reportedly, Southers considered himself too much of a lightning rod for controversy....

Published Wed, Jan 20 2010 5:35 AM by FP Passport

Great moments in public relations

How clueless can you be? U.S. military spokesman John Redfield says he doesn't see a problem with American troops using gun sights that have the numbers of Bible verses inscribed on them: "The perfect parallel that I see," said Maj. John...

Published Tue, Jan 19 2010 1:24 PM by FP Passport