Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Chinese Hackers Are Luring Diplomats With Promises of Porn

Let's say you're a spy working for a major international power, and you'd like to gain access to the internal deliberations of a certain group of foreign ministries. Ideally, you'd like to provide the head of your government with information...

Published Tue, Dec 10 2013 9:12 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, East Asia, China, Intelligence

She Documented Syria's Chemical Atrocities. And Now She's Been Kidnapped.

BEIRUT - Syrian activist Razan Zaitouneh was reportedly kidnapped today from her office in the suburbs of Damascus, along with her husband and two colleagues. It is still unknown whether she was taken by President Bashar al-Assad's regime or Islamist...

Published Tue, Dec 10 2013 7:44 AM by FP Passport

Morning Brief: World Leaders Gather in Soweto to Remember Nelson Mandela

World Leaders Gather in Soweto to Remember Nelson Mandela Top News: Leaders from around the world are joining tens of thousands of South Africans gathered at the FNB stadium in Soweto today for a memorial service for Nelson Mandela, who passed away last...

Published Tue, Dec 10 2013 5:20 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

What Does War Gaming for Peace Look Like?

In policy planning, there's a lot of effort involved when planning for conflict. Research papers and briefings, certainly, but also "war games" -- simulations of conflicts with experts on the various parties to the conflict acting out their...

Published Mon, Dec 09 2013 4:52 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, U.S. Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy magazine, Syria

Putin Bids Farewell to Independent News, Welcomes the Crazy

President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin always had a very sly, if transparent, way of creating the illusion that Russia has independent media -- at least until now. Walking a thin line, state-owned or state-backed news services would be allowed to report...

Published Mon, Dec 09 2013 2:30 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Eastern Europe, Media, Democracy

How You Like Me Now?

It's a big day today at Foreign Policy . Not only are we launching our fifth annual Global Thinkers issue , but we're also unveiling a new website . FP has come a long way since its days as an academic journal founded in 1970, and with the redesign...

Published Mon, Dec 09 2013 2:15 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Foreign Policy magazine

After 20 Years of Nothing, the WTO Finally Reaches a Deal...Sort of

The World Trade Organization lives to fight another day. Amid concern that last week's trade talks would end in failure and render the WTO obsolete after two decades of ineffectual negotiations, member countries finally reached a global trade reform...

Published Mon, Dec 09 2013 12:55 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Economics, Trade

Hayden Panettiere Is on the #Frontlines of Ukraine's Protests

Hayden Panettiere, the star of ABC’s Nashville , has often complained about being portrayed too often as “the popular cheerleader type or just the blonde.” But Panettiere has a new role, and this time around she can't be accused of being a lightweight...

Published Mon, Dec 09 2013 10:22 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia, Politics, Democracy

Morning Brief: Protests in Ukraine Escalate

Protests in Ukraine Escalate Top News: Protests in the Ukrainian capital Kiev reached a new pitch over the weekend, as hundreds of thousands took to the streets demanding the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovich. Under pressure from Russia, Yanukovich...

Published Mon, Dec 09 2013 5:46 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Are Ukraine's Protests About to Turn Very Ugly?

The massive pro-European protests in Ukraine's capital have all the makings of a picture-perfect revolution: a square filled to the brim with demonstrators around the clock, a toppled statue of a former dictator, and riot police shields adorned with...

Published Sun, Dec 08 2013 5:54 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia, Politics, Eastern Europe, Democracy

Mandela's Favorite Poem Is Also Beloved by White Supremacists

During his imprisonment on Robben Island, Nelson Mandela found inspiration in what has come to be one of the most hackneyed poems in the English language. Mandela is hardly alone in his admiration for the Victorian-era poem 'Invictus' -- other...

Published Fri, Dec 06 2013 4:25 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Africa, Britain, History

Is Russia About to Free *** Riot?

Russia doesn't know what to do about its political prisoners. To celebrate the upcoming 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Russian constitution in 1993, President Vladimir Putin agreed to free anywhere from 30,000 to a 100,000 prisoners charged...

Published Fri, Dec 06 2013 3:53 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Corruption, Russia, Justice, Eastern Europe, Democracy

Why Aung San Suu Kyi is not 'Myanmar's Mandela'

Because of her iconic role in pushing for democracy in a once authoritarian country, Aung San Suu Kyi has often been called Myanmar's Mandela. Now, in the wake of Nelson Mandela's death, Aung San Suu Kyi's ability to navigate one of the more...

Published Fri, Dec 06 2013 1:17 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Politics, Southeast Asia, Burma

Even Chinese People Are Baffled by How Much Americans Love Pandas

Everyone loves pandas, but Americans may be a little too obsessed. On Dec. 1, the Smithsonian National Zoo announced that its resident panda cub -- who had just celebrated her first 100 days on Earth -- would be named "Bao Bao," based on the...

Published Fri, Dec 06 2013 12:44 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: East Asia, China, TLN

The World’s Worst Political Standoff That You’ve Never Heard of

While the world remains fixated on anti-government demonstrations in Kiev and Bangkok, perhaps the most intractable political standoff of the past weeks is also the one getting the least attention. Twenty people were injured in Bangladesh's Kurigram...

Published Fri, Dec 06 2013 7:30 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Elections, Islam, South Asia, Democracy