US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 08/08/13 By Michael Shank and Madeline Rose This month, roughly 25 members of Congress will travel to Sub-Saharan Africa for a wide range of discussions in Ethiopia, Liberia, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Riding on the heels of President Obama’s trip to […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 07/29/13 By Michael Shank There are few ideas that convey the idea of “shared security” better than global warming. When the world warms up, when the sea levels rise, and when the extreme weather patterns wreak havoc, we are all in it together – either […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 07/22/13 By Michael Shank Last week, the so-called “war on coal,” which Senate Joe Manchin, D-W.V., recently claimed is real, gained new momentum after the World Bank formally committed to stop funding most coal projects. Manchin, who knows something about existential wars given his laudable […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 07/15/13 By Michael Shank and Rachel Kent That South Korea and North Korea resumed talks this week, but failed to reignite inter-Korean economic cooperation by reopening the complex at the Kaesong Industrial Zone, puts the fight over the North’s nuclear fight program in the political […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 07/08/13 By Michael Shank Framed as the biggest trade deal in the history of the world, trade representatives from the United States and the European Union meet in Washington this week to begin transatlantic trade talks. This is one of two major trade deals on […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 07/01/13 By Michael Shank The scandal at the Internal Revenue Service illustrates well the critical importance of an inspector general in keeping an administration accountable, regardless of which party holds the presidency. Had it not been for the Office of the Inspector General within the […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 06/25/13 By Michael Shank Global climate change got little reprieve this week from President Barack Obama’s climate action plan, which was announced on Tuesday. Beyond the expected nods to renewable and clean energy, cuts to fossil fuel subsidies, vague references to international leadership, delegated direction […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 06/19/13 By Michael Shank and Cassidy Regan As the U.S. government gears up to militarize more of the Middle East by arming rebels in Syria, we are witnessing a similar mission creep toward the African continent. Not merely in the more obvious military interventions into […]
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 […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 01/24/13 By Michael Shank With New York State legislature laying down the law on gun control, and with the White House taskforce announcing similar measures, it is clear that the National Rifle Association isn’t ruling this roost—at least at the state legislature and executive branch […]