Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

Saudi Arabia launches first anti-domestic violence ad

Saudi Arabia has long been known as one of the worst places in the world to be a woman: Under the kingdom's legal system, women are treated as minors and are forbidden from traveling or working without the permission of their male guardians. According...

Published Mon, Apr 29 2013 12:45 PM by FP Passport

Libyan diplomat unloads on Qatar

The tiny Persian Gulf state of Qatar, a Connecticut-sized thumb of a nation sticking out of the side of Saudi Arabia, played a huge role in the overthrow of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi, pushing for a no-fly zone and sending significant amounts of...

Published Fri, Nov 04 2011 8:02 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Libya, Arab World

In navies, last gender barrier is the ocean’s surface

To everyone's surprise, 2013 might prove a historic year for women in the U.S. military, as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Wednesday that the Pentagon will remove the ban on women in combat. All the attention is focusing on ground troops...

Published Wed, Jan 23 2013 4:05 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: North America, Women, Military

Kremlin's 'Sputnik' Newswire Is the BuzzFeed of Propaganda

Murdoch faces heat in U.S., Australia

There's no relief in sight for the embattled 80-year-old media tycoon. Today, British analysts grappled with a question many have called unprecedented -- what power, if any, does the Parliament have to compel Rupert Murdoch to testify? Murdoch, an...

Published Thu, Jul 14 2011 8:41 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, North America, Britain, Media, Pacific, Australia

A family stuck in the middle of the South China Sea

As regional powers fight for control of the South China Sea, one family wants out. With the lease to the Japanese government expiring in March 2014, the Kurihara family are scrambling to sell four out of the five resource-rich and much-disputed Senkaku...

Published Fri, Jul 20 2012 10:51 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Japan, Diplomacy, East Asia, China

Newtown vs. Guangshan: the Chinese perspective

For many Americans, there's a sense that the United States has not fared well in the comparisons inevitably invited by the attacks that occurred on the same day in elementary schools in Newtown, Connecticut and Guangshan, China. In Newtown, 20 children...

Published Mon, Dec 17 2012 9:35 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Disasters, East Asia, China, Culture, Democracy

U.S.-Pakistani relations -- according to 12-year-olds

The United States and Pakistan have not had the greatest year -- or decade -- from a diplomatic perspective. Just today, for instance, Pakistan and Iran launched a natural gas pipeline that Washington has vigorously opposed. Reflecting on the state of...

Published Mon, Mar 11 2013 11:45 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Pakistan, Diplomacy, Fun Stuff, Central Asia, Education

Does Iran have a legal case against 'Argo'?

On Tuesday, the Iranian press reported that the country is seriously considering a lawsuit against the makers of Argo over the film's unrealistic and negative portrayal of Iranians. According to AP : Several news outlets, including the pro-reform...

Published Tue, Mar 12 2013 3:30 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Law, Culture, Middle East, Media, Iran

Bashar al-Assad is going down

The noose around Bashar al-Assad's neck is getting tighter. With the extraordinary midnight statement Sunday by Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, demanding the "stoppage of the killing machine and bloodshed" in Syria and withdrawing the...

Published Mon, Aug 08 2011 5:54 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Middle East, Syria, Arab World

Guest post: Will China go to war in January 2013?

Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Interesting times indeed. This is a guest post from Michael Auslin, a scholar in Asian and security studies at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. "The provincial...

Published Fri, Nov 30 2012 11:45 AM by FP Passport

Torches Lit, Ukrainian Nationalists Celebrate An Inconvenient Hero

The pro-Western protests on Kiev's Independence Square turned into a New Year's celebration on Tuesday, transforming the world's biggest ongoing protest into a huge party. But after some 200,000 people looked hopefully to the upcoming year...

Published Fri, Jan 03 2014 1:22 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Russia, Eastern Europe, History, Democracy

Seymour Hersh, the Knights of Malta, and me

Since my writeup of Seymour Hersh's talk is getting some coverage today, and many commenters have written in to dispute my post, I thought I should provide a little more context. (We'll also hopefully publish a transcript of his remarks later...

Published Fri, Jan 21 2011 12:58 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Military, Religion

For Libya elections, more questions than answers

Libya will face a laundry list of challenges following its national elections, originally set for June 19, which were postponed to July 7. They key issue, said American-Libyan Council president Fadel Lamen at a panel discussion hosted by the Project on...

Published Tue, Jun 12 2012 11:15 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Politics, Elections, North Africa, Libya

Why the Philippines Is Ground Zero for Super Storms ...And Why Recovery Is So Difficult

The destruction wrought by typhoon Haiyan -- which has killed an estimated 2,500 people, according to Philippine President Aquino -- cast a pall over opening day of the UN climate talks in Warsaw on Monday. During the opening ceremony, Philippines negotiator...

Published Tue, Nov 12 2013 6:41 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Environment, United Nations, Southeast Asia, International Organizations