Disasters

Five World Events That Could Swing the U.S. Election

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are slugging it out over the economy, but the world may have a trick or two up its sleeve.

BY URI FRIEDMAN | MAY 24, 2012

Predators for Peace

Drones have revolutionized war. Why not let them deliver aid?

BY JACK C. CHOW | APRIL 27, 2012

Trust But Verify

How important is representative data in human rights work?

MAY/JUNE 2012

Disasters on the Seven Seas

The last century's most harrowing cruise ship catastrophes.

APRIL 6, 2012

Treacherous Waters

The latest bad publicity for the global cruise industry is just the tip of the iceberg.

BY ROSS A. KLEIN | APRIL 6, 2012

The World in Photos This Week

Obama takes a basketball break with buddy David Cameron, Japan marks the earthquake anniversary, and a couple of bridges take a beating.

MARCH 16, 2012

Let's Stop Miscasting Africans

Africans are way past the victim thing -- but Westerners don't seem to be there yet. A tale of two films.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | MARCH 13, 2012

Japan's Nuclear Cabal

Japan's public is squarely against going back to nuclear power. So why is the government pushing so hard to get the country's nuclear plants back online?

BY NOBUO FUKUDA | MARCH 9, 2012

Food Aid: Stuff People Need

Ambassador Ertharin Cousin and Nancy Lindborg say U.S. food aid has come a long way since serving as a means of donating surplus commodities.

JAN/FEB 2012

The Ten Biggest American Intelligence Failures

BY URI FRIEDMAN | JANUARY 3, 2012

A Friend in Need

Can disaster aid actually win hearts and minds?

BY CHARLES KENNY | OCTOBER 31, 2011

Haiti Doesn't Need Your Yoga Mat

A visual history of the West's misguided attempts to send its hand-me-downs to the developing world.

OCTOBER 11, 2011

The Numbers Game

U.N. spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs writes that David Rieff's accusations of casualty count inflation are unfair.

NOVEMBER 2011

The Price of Failure

How much has the collapse of Somalia cost the world? $55 billion -- and here's where it went.

BY JOHN NORRIS, BRONWYN BRUTON | OCTOBER 5, 2011

Are You So Mad at Pakistan You Can't Feel Sorry for Them?

Tragic photos of a nation underwater.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY SAM PHELPS | OCTOBER 4, 2011

Atomic Dogs

Why can't the world's nuclear energy watchdog do anything about Fukushima or Iran's weapons program? I went to find out.

BY KONSTANTIN KAKAES | SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Doom and Gloom

Interpreting the American public mood on the 9/11 decade.

BY SHIBLEY TELHAMI | SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

Is There a Map to the Future?

The former head of the U.S. National Intelligence Council explains why governments try -- and fail -- to see over the horizon.

BY ROBERT HUTCHINGS | AUGUST 31, 2011

The Black Hole of 9/11

As we assess the legacy of the 10th anniversary of America's seminal terrorist attack, it's worth looking at 10 events from the past decade that have actually been more important.

BY DAVID J. ROTHKOPF | AUGUST 29, 2011

Cloudy with a Chance of Insurgency

Does extreme weather cause war? Don't count on it.

BY CHARLES KENNY | AUGUST 29, 2011

Come Together

Leaders struggling to fix a world spiraling out of control are turning to international institutions. Are they up to the task?

BY DAVID BOSCO | AUGUST 18, 2011

Two Plus Two Equals Five

What numbers can we trust? A second look at the death toll from some of the world's worst disasters.

BY PHILIP WALKER | AUGUST 17, 2011

Vicious Cycle

After 20 years of trying to stop famine and eliminate piracy and terrorism in Somalia, the world's No. 1 failed state is still a mess.

AUGUST 16, 2011

Millions May Die ... Or Not.

How disaster hype became a big global business.

BY DAVID RIEFF | SEPT/OCT 2011

The Black Hawk Down Effect

We all know what went wrong the last time the international community tried to end a crisis in Somalia. But we've forgotten what went right.

BY JOHN L. HIRSCH | AUGUST 12, 2011

The Post-Fukushima Arms Race?

The ironic consequence of Japan's disaster might be a more dangerous global nuclear landscape.

BY HENRY SOKOLSKI | JULY 29, 2011

Interview: Rajiv Shah

The USAID administrator on the epic food crisis in the Horn of Africa, dealing with al Shabab, and why Somalia's famine is going to get worse before it gets better.

INTERVIEW BY ROBERT ZELIGER | JULY 28, 2011

The Forgetting Stone

"No matter how many years may pass, do not forget this warning": A poet’s look at Japan’s centuries of rebuilding over fault-lines, from FP’s latest ebook.

BY MARIKO NAGAI | JULY 27, 2011

Norway's 9/11?

Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of Norway's Peace Research Institute Oslo, explains why the Norwegian capital might have been on a terrorist's shortlist of potential targets.

INTERVIEW BY CHARLES HOMANS | JULY 22, 2011

Hot Air Zone

Naoto Kan’s statement taking on Japan’s nuclear industry isn’t likely to accomplish anything.

BY ROBERT DUJARRIC | JULY 14, 2011