Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Nation of Kiribati considers relocation

The Sydney Morning Herald reports : The Pacific nation of Kiribati is negotiating to buy land in Fiji so it can move islanders under threat from rising sea levels, in what could be the first climate-induced relocation of a country. Anote Tong, the Kiribati...

Published Thu, Mar 08 2012 9:52 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: Israel strikes military facility in Damascus, U.N. investigator says rebels used sarin

Israel strikes military facility in Damascus, U.N. investigator says rebels used sarin Top news: The Syrian government charged Sunday that an overnight airstrike that targeted what is believed to be a military research center in Damascus was carried out...

Published Mon, May 06 2013 5:44 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Can Egypt's Islamist finance minister cut a deal with the IMF?

The big news in Cairo is that a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle has finally become a reality . President Mohamed Morsy swore in nine new ministers today in a move that increases the Muslim Brotherhood's representation in the government. The shakeup...

Published Tue, May 07 2013 8:08 AM by FP Passport

Turkish protesters have invented a new verb: 'chapul'

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Ergodan hasn't exactly been conciliatory toward protesters over the past week, condemning "extremists" and "bandits" for trying to destabilize the country. He also strongly objects to Twitter...

Published Wed, Jun 05 2013 11:50 AM by FP Passport

Thomas Friedman: I only deserve partial credit for coining the 'Chinese dream'

This week's Economist cover story is about Xi Jinping's catchphrase "Chinese dream," which symbolizes the aspirations of the Chinese people and nation. The magazine suggests, bizarrely but convincingly, that New York Times columnist...

Published Fri, May 03 2013 8:28 AM by FP Passport

Clinton cutting Pacific trip short

The State Department has announced that Secretary of State Hillary is cutting short her trip to Asia "due to the devastating earthquake in Haiti and its severe aftermath." Clinton gave a speech on U.S. Asia Policy in Honolulu earlier today and...

Published Wed, Jan 13 2010 4:08 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Haiti's Disaster

White House foreign-policy speechwriter in the news

Today brings a good Washington Post style section profile of the White House's speechwriter on national security and foreign policy, Ben Rhodes, as well as his inaugural contribution to the blogosphere. Our parent publication describes Rhodes'...

Published Tue, Jan 12 2010 2:40 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: U.S. Foreign Policy

Britain's Batman isn't the only superhero living among us

Earlier today, police in the British city of Bradford reported that a man dressed as Batman had walked into a local police station and delivered a wanted man. Ever since, the media has been buzzing with questions: Who is this caped crusader? How did he...

Published Mon, Mar 04 2013 3:45 PM by FP Passport

Meet the longshot Kenyan presidential candidate everybody loves

As James Verini notes in his dispatch from Nairobi this weekend, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta are the frontrunners in Kenya's closely watched presidential election on Monday. But one other candidate has been...

Published Sun, Mar 03 2013 11:00 AM by FP Passport

State Department to Cody Wilson: Take your gun blueprints off the Internet

The State Department isn't too happy about Cody Wilson's 3-D printed gun . In a letter to Wilson dated May 8, the department asked the University of Texas law student to take down 10 designs -- including one for the first fully functional 3-D...

Published Thu, May 09 2013 4:20 PM by FP Passport

How do you investigate North Korean human rights abuses from afar?

Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 On Tuesday, the U.N. Human Rights Council announced the three individuals who will lead the body's first-ever human rights investigation into North Korea. In an interview with...

Published Wed, May 08 2013 1:50 PM by FP Passport

Xinjiang opens up Internet access.... to thirty websites

China's Xinjiang province has been without Internet access since anti-government riots last summer. At the end of 2009, the government began allowing access to a handful of government-run sites. This week the bans were lifted on a whopping 27 websites...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 9:58 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: China, Internet

FP contributors weigh in on the latest from Iran

We've had a whole lot of content on Iran this week tied to today's demonstrations. Here's a quick guide: Colum Lynch profiled the key players in the Iran sanctions debate. Daniel Drezner wondered how we will be able to tell if the protests...

Published Thu, Feb 11 2010 3:06 PM by FP Passport

Bending to popular anger, Putin installs helipad at Kremlin

Vladimir Putin has finally decided to make a concession to his critics. But he isn't exactly bending over backwards. Instead, he's having a helipad installed at the Kremlin. Sure, it may not be the most meaningful reform. But it does cater to...

Published Thu, May 16 2013 3:30 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia

The story of how Nawaz Sharif pulled back from nuclear war

On Saturday, Nawaz Sharif swept to victory in Pakistan's parliamentary elections, capping a frantic election season and handing the former prime minister a sufficient number of seats to assemble what is likely to be a far more stable government than...

Published Mon, May 13 2013 6:10 PM by FP Passport