HUFFINGTON POST 07/31/14 By Michael Shank This week, former United States Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) reached out to me regarding a Dear Colleague letter that he wanted to circulate to his former colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Kucinich, like many of us deeply frustrated […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 07/31/14 By Michael Shank and Kate Edelen Oil thefts are growing in Nigeria and threaten stability in the region. An SEC rule could help stem oil-related violence in the Niger Delta. As America’s news coverage of Nigeria continues to focus on the plight of kidnapped […]
POLITIX 07/01/14 By Michael Shank At next month’s Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington D.C., it’ll be important for President Barack Obama to refrain from prioritizing counter-terrorism, resource extractive or aid-only agendas – which is what has dominated White House policies in the past – and pursue, instead, a more just […]
CNN 06/26/14 By Michael Shank and Najla Elmangoush Editor’s note: Najla Elmangoush is the dean of Centre of Gender Studies at the Libya Institute for Advanced Studies in Tripoli. Michael Shank is the associate director for legislative affairs at the Friends Committee on National Legislation and adjunct faculty at George […]
POLITIX 06/26/14 By Michael Shank Iraq continues to pose a conundrum for the international community. Many in the West feel that Iraq is perpetually ungovernable and that its quagmire finds root cause in something inherent to Iraqi culture or sectarianism. What the West fails to realize is that military interventionism […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 06/18/14 By Michael Shank and Yemi Melka Forget military strikes. The U.S. should address sectarian tension by promoting regional cooperation. The best solution to the Middle East conflict is a policy based in regional teamwork. As fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 05/29/14 By Michael Shank and Elizabeth Beavers It’s time to end the president’s ability to wage nearly limitless war. Congress finally appears to be realizing that it has been providing neither checks nor balances to the president’s war powers for the last 13 years. While […]
NATIONAL REVIEW 05/22/14 By Michael Shank The drone memo matters, but what the West is failing to do on the ground matters more. In Washington, D.C., it is rare for any adversarial country to remain in the forefront of foreign policy for very long. Yemen is an excellent example of […]
NATIONAL REVIEW 05/12/14 By Michael Shank What should be haram (“forbidden” in Arabic) in dealing with Nigeria’s now infamous and increasingly violent Boko Haram, after the group kidnapped more than 250 schoolgirls last month, is an approach that is as rudimentary as that of the kidnappers themselves. The group, officially […]
CDN 05/09/14 By Michael Shank WASHINGTON, May 9, 2014 — Trust is essential for any society to function. If it’s not there, political and economic progress is impossible. That’s exactly what’s happening in Yemen right now. From the public’s perspective in Sana’a, the transitional government cannot be trusted, nor can […]