FOX NEWS 08/16/13 By Michael Shank When Americans think of Somalia, famine or violence comes to mind — a fair perception because the country has suffered both — or they think of the movie “Black Hawk Down” about U.S. attacks in Mogadishu. The reality in Mogadishu, however, and throughout Somalia, […]
NATIONAL JOURNAL 08/12/13 By Michael Shank Having just returned from Somalia last week, and after meeting with the Minister of Natural Resources, the imperative to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy is increasingly becoming a moral one, not merely an environmental or financial one. In Somalia — where the […]
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 […]
CNN 08/02/13 By Michael Shank Editor’s note: Michael Shank is director of foreign Policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, an advocacy group based in Washington, DC. The views expressed are his own. Last weekend, in response to a deadly attack on the Turkish embassy in Somalia that killed […]
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 07/15/13 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 […]
POLITIX 07/05/13 By Michael Shank President Barack Obama’s decision to suspend trade relations with Bangladesh due to worker safety concerns sets new a precedent for two major trade deals on the administration’s docket – the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). These proposed pacts […]
HUFFINGTON POST 06/17/13 By Michael Shank and Kate Gould Iran’s presidential elections 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 to […]
POLITICO 06/17/13 By Michael Shank and Wayne Gilchrest U.S.-Iran diplomacy got a boost recently with the White House nomination of Samantha Power as the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. While Power, who chaired President Barack Obama’s Atrocities Prevention Board, is not shy about military intervention, her work with […]