Quotes in Press

Who Stole Television News?

HUFFINGTON POST 09/26/14 By Joel Silberman BREAKING NEWS – They’re selling us another war on television. As a Washington media strategist, people ask me, “Who’s offering alternatives to war on the Sunday morning news shows?” As reported by the New York Times, military analysts dominating the Sunday airwaves, marshaling support […]

The Other War: Military posts airstrike videos on YouTube, Twitter

KING5 NEWS 09/23/14 By Dan Cassuto Michael Shank, PhD, associate director for legislative affairs at the Friends Committee on National Legislation and adjunct faculty at George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, discusses with King5’s Dan Cassuto the Pentagon’s PR war over Syria and Iraq. Video courtesy of […]

Has the Calculus on Climate Talks Changed?

NATIONAL JOURNAL 09/16/14 By Ben Geman and Clare Foran WHAT INSIDERS ARE SAYING HAS THE CALCULUS ON CLIMATE TALKS CHANGED? Is there reason to believe that next year’s U.N. climate negotiations in Paris will succeed where past negotiations have failed? If so, why? Read the question here. “The calculus has […]

Should We Curb Air Pollution From Air Travel?

NATIONAL JOURNAL 09/08/14 By Clare Foran, Ben Geman and Jason Plautz WHAT INSIDERS ARE SAYING SHOULD WE CURB AIR POLLUTION FROM AIR TRAVEL? Should EPA regulate air pollution from the airlines? If so, how strict should the rule be? What are the challenges and risks involved, and how could a […]

Q&A: Rep. Hank Johnson on Ending Police Militarization

ATLANTA MAGAZINE 09/05/14 By Cameron Albert-Deitch  Hank Johnson may have been best known as one of two Buddhists in the House (the other being Hawaii’s Colleen Hanabusa). But the lawmaker, who has served Georgia’s 4th congressional district since 2007, has set his sights on reforming the Department of Defense’s 1033 […]

Stop Police Militarization

ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION 08/28/14 By Hank Johnson As seen in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution: http://on-ajc.com/1lhRBWk U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, a Georgia Democrat, is a member of the House Armed Services and Judiciary Committees. Michael Shank, associate director for legislative affairs at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, contributed to this article. […]

Ferguson Highlights US Police Militarization

RIA NOVOSTI 08/22/14 FERGUSON, August 22 (RIA Novosti) – Harsh policing of protests over the police killing of an unarmed African-American teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, showcase a trend towards the militarization of US law enforcement, Michael Shank, a religious group director, told RIA Novosti Friday. “The militarization of the police […]

Drawing the Line Between Soldier and Cop

NEW YORK TIMES 08/17/14 By Jake Flanagin “Ferguson, Mo., has become a virtual war zone,” write Elizabeth R. Beavers and Michael Shank in an Op-Ed for The New York Times. “In the wake of the shooting of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, outsize armored vehicles have lined streets and […]

Time to Stop Turning Police Forces Into Armies

NEWSER 08/15/14 By John Johnson Critics such as Sen. Claire McCaskill say the initial police response in Ferguson, Mo., actually made things worse because cops were equipped like soldiers of war. No wonder, write Elizabeth Beavers and Michael Shank in the New York Times. The Pentagon and Homeland Security Department […]