AL JAZEERA 12/16/13 By Michael Shank The foreign policy docket of President Barack Obama’s second term seems to be giving short shrift to the security threats of the next four years. This is not merely because the US intelligence and defence agencies continue to be wracked with scandal, thanks to […]
Violence
Congress Can’t Ignore Afghanistan in Budget Talks
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 11/29/12 By Michael Shank A new report shows irresponsible spending by the Defense Department in Afghanistan. This month, hidden amid election excitement, a report was delivered to Congress by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Likely few in Washington read it. The U.S. war […]
These Fiscal Cliff Hawks Ought To Be Foreign Policy Doves
THE GUARDIAN 11/26/12 By Michael Shank The occupation of Afghanistan costs US taxpayers $10bn a month, and millions in corruption. Yet Congress is oblivious. This month, hidden amid election excitement, a report was delivered to Congress by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar). Likely, few in Washington read […]
Folly of Freedom is Plaguing the US Right Now
FINANCIAL TIMES 10/09/12 By Michael Shank Sir, It is confounding that America’s presidential candidates, in their first debate, failed to address one of the growing epidemics killing our countrymen and women, that of gun violence (“Gun lobby pours millions of dollars into campaign to unseat Obama”, October 4). Sadly, they […]
We Must Make Anti-Bullying a Mainstream Message
THE HILL 08/09/12 By Michael Shank On the heels of the Sikh temple shooting in Wisconsin, the U.S. Department of Education is hosting its Third Annual Bullying Prevention Summit this week, which is fortuitously timed and desperately needed. Without question, the Sikh temple shooter, Wade Michael Page, a self-proclaimed skinhead, […]
Questions Must Be About Gun Safety
FINANCIAL TIMES 08/04/12 By Michael Shank Sir, The real problem with the US gun debate is that polling questions are frequently framed as gun rights not as gun safety (“It is plain wrong to see the gun lobby as Svengali”, July 28). Few Americans want their rights stripped, but most […]
Inside the Beltway: Pillars of Liberty
WASHINGTON TIMES 07/25/12 By Jennifer Harper THE COST OF AURORA “Why must the tragic Colorado theater shootings stimulate a debate on more than mere gun control? Not simply because, or however remarkable the fact that, violent mass killings — whether in Columbine, Virginia Tech or now Aurora — tend to […]
In the Wake of the Shooting, Gun Control Debate Re-Emerges
NEWSY 07/20/12 By Matthew Picht and Anchor Jim Flink Debate about gun control has flared up once again after the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado. Here’s Sky News. “This argument happens every time there is a shooting incident in America. The last significant argument about gun control was after the […]
With Income Inequality Comes Violence
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 07/18/12 By Michael Shank David Rosnick is spot on in “Breaking Down the Causes of Income Inequality” (07/16/12), but what about the effects of income inequality? Our research at the Institute for Economics and Peace shows that America’s high income inequality — at its highest […]
UN Press Conference on Global Peace Index
UNITED NATIONS 06/14/12 The cost of the economic impact of violence on the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the last years was $9 trillion dollars, Michael Shank, Vice-President of the Institute for Economics and Peace, told correspondents today at Headquarters. Mr. Shank, who was addressing a press conference […]