Arab News 10/20/2006 By Michael Shank Jack Straw’s recent commentary on niqab, or full veil, as a “visible statement of separation and of difference” that “makes it more difficult” for people “to acknowledge each other” signifies the latest in Europe’s embarrassing blunders. Following the pope’s political impropriety, former British foreign […]
International Herald Tribune/Daily Star Egypt 10/20/2006 By Michael Shank Britain’s ex-foreign secretary’s recent commentary on the Muslim niqab, or full veil, as a “visible statement of separation and of difference” that “makes it more difficult” for people “to acknowledge each other” signifies the latest in Europe’s embarrassing blunders. Following the […]
International Herald Tribune/Daily Star Egypt 10/18/2006 By Michael Shank With the United States Congress appealing to Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa for intervention in Darfur, and with Moussa’s offer to provide peacekeeping troops, one gets the impression that the League is finally taking itself seriously. Historically, the Arab League […]
The Daily Times (Pakistan) 10/08/2006 By Michael Shank and Saira Yamin President Pervez Musharraf’s claim that former United States Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage threatened to “bomb Pakistan back to the Stone Age” is sadly ironic: Musharraf is already doing it. This year, Musharraf diligently assisted the US in […]
International Herald Tribune/Daily News 10/04/2006 By Michael Shank Book Review: Conservatives without Conscience John W. Dean; Penguin Group; 186 pages; $25.95. Given the opportunity to correct President Bush’s political blunder wherein he stated that “this nation is at war with Islamic fascists,” John Dean, author of best-selling Worse than Watergate, […]
Global Solutions Quarterly 08/29/2006 Conducted by Michael Shank H.E. Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa is the President of the sixty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly. Prior to being elected President, she was serving as Legal Adviser to the Royal Court in the Kingdom of Bahrain. One of the […]
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE / DAILY NEWS EGYPT 08/23/2006 By Michael Shank The Bush Administration’s policies in the Middle East were originally sold as a means of encouraging democracy. What they’re actually doing is fostering a growing pan-Islamicism. The Bush administration calls it the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), a frighteningly […]
The Citizen Diplomat 08/15/2006 Conducted by Michael Shank and Courtney Erwin How is the latest crisis in the Middle East different from ones before? In other words, is there a new dimension to the relationship between Israel-US and the Arab world, Arab-Muslim world? First of all there are three crises […]
JAKARTA POST 08/14/2006 By Michael Shank and Hasballah Saad The United States Congress recently passed a contentious bill that allocates over US$6 million to Indonesia for military equipment and training in 2007. Two checks will be issued: $4.5 million under Congress’ Foreign Military Financing program and $1.28 million under Congress’ […]
ARAB NEWS 08/13/2006 By Michael Shank & Khadija Ali From Afghanistan to Latin America, recent history suggests that the US policy of funding militias that operate outside a national government structure has negative long- and short-term consequences. The militias are difficult to control and they do not have a vested […]