POLITIX 06/15/13 By Michael Shank and Kate Gould Iran’s presidential elections on Friday offered a rare opportunity for the world’s media spotlight to shift from focusing on Iranian officials, donning white lab coats flanked by metallic centrifuges, to the Iranian people. Tens of millions of Iranians headed to the polls, […]
Foreign Policy
What Trans-Pacific and U.S.-EU Trade Partnerships Must Tackle: Jobs
HUFFINGTON POST 06/13/13 By Michael Shank and Sabina Dewan A high-level panel appointed by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon released its recommendations last month for a global development agenda when the Millennium Development Goals expire at the end of 2015 and when approximately one billion people will still […]
Not Just Any Jobs, But Just Jobs
THE HILL 06/12/13 By Michael Shank and Sabina Dewan Last week, a high-level panel appointed by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon released its recommendations for a global development agenda when the Millennium Development Goals expire at the end of 2015 and when approximately one billion people will still […]
Doing Due Diligence on Diplomacy With Damascus
ROLL CALL 06/07/13 By Michael Shank and Kathy Zager The news that Russia is proceeding apace with arms shipments to the Syrian government, or that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the European Union are keen to arm the Syrian rebels, does not automatically kill the Syrian peace talks in […]
Lobbying World
THE HILL 06/05/13 By Hill Staff Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker public interest firm, has hired Michael Shank as a lobbyist to focus on foreign policy issues, including climate change, global poverty, and U.S. military and nuclear weapons policy. Shank most recently worked as Rep. Mike Honda’s (D-Calif.) […]
The Only Way Forward on Syria
FOX NEWS 05/28/13 By Michael Shank and Kathy Zager United States-Russia diplomacy is finally making headway on Syria. Monday, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Paris to discuss their joint proposal for peace talks, they were encouraged by news over the […]
America Must Rethink the War on Terror
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 05/24/13 By Michael Shank and Matthew Southworth As President Barack Obama defended the nation’s ever-evolving counter-terrorism policy yesterday at the National Defense University and opened the parameters for military action in places outside of the traditional battlefield, the risk of writing into law permission for […]
Drones Weaken USA’s Moral Might
USA TODAY 05/24/13 By Michael Shank Armed drones, at first blush, are a boon to America’s military toolkit, as President Obama reinforced in his counterterrorism speech on Thursday. Drones, in the short run at least, could mean fewer U.S. troops deployed and fewer American lives lost. Unsurprisingly, the appeal is […]
On The Move: Foreign Policy
CQ 05/13/13 After working for Democratic Rep. Michael M. Honda of California for four years, Michael Shank is now director of foreign policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, the lobbying arm for U.S. Quakers. Honda, a Democrat, is a leader in the Congressional Progressive Caucus and opposes many […]
Authorization for Use of Military Force: A Blank Check for War Without End
THE GUARDIAN 05/05/13 By Michael Shank and Matt Southworth A handful of Democratic and Republican senators are considering a rewrite of 60 of the most consequential words to ever pass through Congress. The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), passed after the attacks of 11 September 2001, and provides […]