Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

China bans time travel

Beijing is taking action against an increasingly popular genre on Chinese television. From the China Hush blog: In these time-travel based TV plays, usually the protagonist is from the modern time and for some reasons and via some means, travels through...

Published Mon, Apr 11 2011 8:45 AM by FP Passport

Make tweet, not war

Lebanese political figures have become notorious for taking their rather unseemly catfights to Twitter and Facebook, leading some to wonder whether tweeting their spats is the only thing keeping these pillars of the Lebanese community from literally being...

Published Fri, Aug 10 2012 12:13 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, Fun Stuff, Lebanon

The even smaller rocks Japan and China are fighting over

With all the attention being paid to the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands at the moment, it's worth keeping in mind that they aren't the only remote pacific islets that China and Japan are feuding over. And despite their much-maligned size and lack of resources...

Published Mon, Sep 24 2012 11:15 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Japan, East Asia, China, Pacific

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

The archduke with the dragon tattoo

Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian archduke whose assassination by a Serbian nationalist in 1914 set off World War I, has always been more famous for his death than for his life. But, as Der Spiegel recently reported , thanks to rediscovered and newly published...

Published Fri, Mar 08 2013 11:55 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Eastern Europe, History

Even soccer can't escape the never-ending Persian/Arabian Gulf spat

What's in a name? When it comes to the body of water nestled between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula: a whole lot. For years, the Persian (to some) or Arabian (to others) Gulf has been a source of tension between Iran and its Arab neighbors. In 2010...

Published Wed, May 29 2013 1:50 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Culture, Politics, Middle East, History, Iran

Rick Sanchez wages flame war against Muslim Brotherhood Twitter feed

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo's Twitter feed disappeared for about an hour today following an online sparring match with a feed operated by the office of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy over Jon Stewart's impassioned defense of Egyptian satirist...

Published Wed, Apr 03 2013 5:30 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Science & Technology, Diplomacy, Freedom, Politics, Middle East, Media, Internet, Egypt

D-Day's Going to Be a Bit Awkward This Year

Why the memory of the liberation of Europe is still a battlefield. Read More...

Published Thu, Jun 05 2014 7:47 PM by Foreign Policy

Filed under: Argument

Is the White House so Scared of Turkey That it Won't Even Hang a Rug?

In 1926, Vartoohi Galezian -- a 15-year-old refugee from the genocide in Armenia -- arrived at the White House to pay a visit to President Calvin Coolidge. She had come to view the rug she and 1,400 other orphans living in Ghazir -- then part of mandate...

Published Thu, Nov 21 2013 10:23 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, History, Obama Administration, International Relations, Foreign Aid, Turkey

How to Tell if You're Drinking Whale

What does it take to become a true Viking? According to one Icelandic brewery, drinking their beer made with ground up whale bones will do the trick just fine. To the consternation of much of the non-whale-eating world, the brewery, Steðji, announced...

Published Wed, Jan 08 2014 1:43 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Environment, Fun Stuff, Food/Agriculture

Is Shinzo Abe the Voldemort of Asia?

If one wanted to find a real-life political parallel to J. K. Rowling's villainous Lord Voldemort, there are a few obvious choices: Hitler, who shared with Voldemort an obsession with racial purity; Stalin, who, like the malevolent Heir of Slytherin...

Published Thu, Jan 02 2014 4:15 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Japan, East Asia, China, Military

This Is the Modern Axis of Buddhist Hate

The photo of the two monks above looks innocent enough. One of the men presents the other with a birthday present. It's difficult to make out, but it looks to be some sort of gold figurine on a red velvet base. In fact, the photo would be totally...

Published Fri, Mar 07 2014 12:21 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: East Asia, Islam, Religion, Burma

Does Edward Snowden Really Exist?

Here's a preview of a quote you'll probably hear on this week's edition of NPR's "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me": "You know, I have serious questions about whether he really exists." Who's the speaker? Edward...

Published Wed, Jan 22 2014 5:24 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: North America, Intelligence, Barack Obama, National Security, NSA

War zone or post-national paradise?

With more than 2,000 killings this year in Ciudad Juarez, pictures of gunshot victims strewn about the streets and bulletproof-vested shopkeepers attending terrified customers, potential paramilitiary group formation , calls for UN peacekeeping troops...

Published Fri, Nov 13 2009 9:38 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: North America, Drugs & Crime, Diplomacy, Mexico, Migration/Immigration

Russian Daredevils Climb Shanghai Skyscraper

About two weeks ago, Vadim Makhorov posted the spooky image below of two disembodied Shanghai skyscrapers to his Instagram account. The picture raised more questions than it answered. Where was it taken from and how did Makhorov get there? On Wednesday...

Published Thu, Feb 13 2014 1:47 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia, East Asia, China, Fun Stuff