Love is a battlefield

Poor Cyprus. Not only is the European island nation still divided, but now there's a new threat to national security. The Cypriot military has banned the use of a British-made vibrator, the Love Bug 2, because of fears that the electronic waves it emits would interfere with the army's radio frequencies. The company that makes ...

Poor Cyprus. Not only is the European island nation still divided, but now there's a new threat to national security. The Cypriot military has banned the use of a British-made vibrator, the Love Bug 2, because of fears that the electronic waves it emits would interfere with the army's radio frequencies. The company that makes the remote-controlled egg-shaped device, Ann Summers, describes it as "deceptively powerful." Cypriot intelligence must have been hard at work to reveal this deception. After all, somebody had to test it to figure it out!

Poor Cyprus. Not only is the European island nation still divided, but now there's a new threat to national security. The Cypriot military has banned the use of a British-made vibrator, the Love Bug 2, because of fears that the electronic waves it emits would interfere with the army's radio frequencies. The company that makes the remote-controlled egg-shaped device, Ann Summers, describes it as "deceptively powerful." Cypriot intelligence must have been hard at work to reveal this deception. After all, somebody had to test it to figure it out!

Christine Y. Chen is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.
Tag: Europe

More from Foreign Policy

Vladimir Putin speaks during the Preliminary Draw of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia at The Konstantin Palace on July 25, 2015 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Vladimir Putin speaks during the Preliminary Draw of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia at The Konstantin Palace on July 25, 2015 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

What Putin Got Right

The Russian president got many things wrong about invading Ukraine—but not everything.

Dmitry Medvedev (center in the group of officials), an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who is now deputy chairman of the country's security council, visits the Omsktransmash (Omsk transport machine factory) in the southern Siberian city of Omsk.
Dmitry Medvedev (center in the group of officials), an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who is now deputy chairman of the country's security council, visits the Omsktransmash (Omsk transport machine factory) in the southern Siberian city of Omsk.

Russia Has Already Lost in the Long Run

Even if Moscow holds onto territory, the war has wrecked its future.

Sri Lankan construction workers along a road in Colombo.
Sri Lankan construction workers along a road in Colombo.

China’s Belt and Road to Nowhere

Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy is a “shadow of its former self.”

Dalton speaks while sitting at a table alongside other U.S. officials.
Dalton speaks while sitting at a table alongside other U.S. officials.

The U.S. Overreacted to the Chinese Spy Balloon. That Scares Me.

So unused to being challenged, the United States has become so filled with anxiety over China that sober responses are becoming nearly impossible.