CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR 03/24/08 By Michael Shank and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) The United Nations tackled the task of troubleshooting climate change last month. Between holding special General Assembly meetings at headquarters in New York, bringing 100 environmental ministers to Monaco in the largest meeting of ministers since Bali, and […]
Author: Michael Shank
Bali Confirmed the Shift: Nation Is On Board Now
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH 02/22/08 By Michael Shank and US Representative Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) It’s missing the point to think about the United Nations climate change conference in Bali last December based upon on whether specific targets were agreed upon or not. This point ignores dramatic historical changes in the world concerning […]
Afghan Domestic Opinion Neglected in Ashdown Plan
FINANCIAL TIMES 02/15/08 By Michael Shank Sir, Paddy Ashdown still does not get it. His three-pronged policy prescription for Afghanistan (“A strategy to save Afghanistan”, February 13), while meritorious on many levels, nowhere implies consultation with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai. This approach, unfortunately, is consistent with years of interventionist neglect […]
High Stakes in Effort to Sink Gilchrest’s Canoe Diplomacy
THE HILL 02/06/08 By Michael Shank In the article “Club for Growth goes after Gilchrest with ad buy” (Feb. 1), caustic conservatives, wielding a weighty $590,000 in television ad spending, queue to attack Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.) prior to Maryland’s Feb. 12 GOP primary. Those in Washington favoring a deliberative […]
Gaza Sanctions Exact an Unjust Toll on Civilians
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR 01/23/08 By Michael Shank Regarding the Jan. 15 article “Fertilizer, frustration fuel Gaza’s rockets”: The article paid primary attention to fertilizer and little to frustration. This neglect appears not unusual as the humanitarian crisis emerging in Gaza seems to garner little international concern. Now that Gaza’s main […]
Don’t Choke Off Gaza
WASHINGTON TIMES 01/22/08 By Michael Shank In mollifying international criticism of border closings, Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror claimed that “sufficient stocks of food” existed for Gazans and that “no one would go hungry” (“Israeli air force strikes empty Hamas offices,” World, Saturday). Mr. Dror speaks not of Gaza. […]
Overdue Wisdom in Afghanistan
FINANCIAL TIMES 01/17/08 By Michael Shank Sir, At long last, US strategy in Afghanistan is wising up (“From poppies to pomegranates”, January 14). Putting crop eradication on the back burner, a move aided by concern from the government in Kabul, the US is pursuing ways in which high-value produce can […]
Congress’s Goals on CAFE, Biofuels Don’t Go Far Enough
THE HILL 12/06/07 By Michael Shank Coinciding with the United Nations climate change conference in Bali this week, Congress remains mired in energy bill deliberations. And it appears that foreign leaders abroad are the more formidable fighters against global warming. In the article “New groups get in ring as energy […]
Putting Iran on Annapolis Guest List Less of a Risk than Not
FINANCIAL TIMES 11/30/07 By Michael Shank Sir, Saudi Arabia and Syria hardly constitute a coalition of the craven (“Iran looms large over Arab ‘coalition of the frightened’ “, November 28). The appearance of these and other Arab states at the Annapolis peace summit is anything but an exhibition of anxiety […]
Annapolis Holds Opportunity for Mideast Peace
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH 11/25/07 By Michael Shank and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) The time has come for the world’s leaders to face hard truths concerning the Middle East, specifically the conflict between Palestine and Israel. On Tuesday, President George Bush will provide such an opportunity as leaders of the U.S., Israel, […]