THE GUARDIAN 09/23/14 By Michael Shank and Rep Raul Grijalva Members of Congress – and the public – who care about a sustainable peace in the Middle East, the wise use of American tax dollars and the balance of power between our branches of government must not stand by as […]
Tag: state department
How to Stop Libya Becoming Another Iraq
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 […]
U.S. Military Interventionism Has Harmed Iraq Dearly
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 […]
Of Drone Strikes and Violence: A Personal Search for Nonviolent Solutions in Yemen
CDN 04/27/14 By Michael Shank WASHINGTON, April 27, 2014 — America is leaving a devastating legacy in Yemen thanks to its program of drone strikes. Without question, America’s approach is doing much to destabilize this impoverished country, undermine constitutional and electoral efforts to unify her people, and devastate the local […]
The Dangers of Soft Power
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 04/14/14 By Michael Shank The United States Department of Defense used it recently in Yemen and Pakistan. The U.S. State Department is using it right now in Afghanistan and Nigeria. The U.S. Agency for International Development used it in the last elections in Kenya. It’s […]
History Repeating Itself in Ukraine
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 03/07/13 By Michael Shank and Kimairis Toogood When it comes to the conflict in Ukraine, the Republic of Georgia must feel like history is close to repeating itself. Georgia lost 20 percent of its sovereign territory to de facto Russian control in 2008 and now […]
Sign a Drone Treaty Before Everyone Does as We Do
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 02/04/14 By Michael Shank and Elizabeth Beavers We need an international agreement before the U.S. modus operandi becomes the international norm. It is time for an international conversation – and, ultimately, a treaty – on the use of drones. It is naïve to carry on […]
Bridging the Gap, UN to Capitol Hill
PEACEBUILDER 12/04/13 By Andrew Jenner In 2006, the United Nations General Assembly replaced its Commission on Human Rights – the organization’s main body dedicated to protection of human rights – with the reorganized and renamed UN Human Rights Council (HRC). As UN decisions and deliberations tend to be, it was […]
U.S. Credibility Around the World Damaged by Afghanistan War
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 12/16/13 By Michael Shank, Daniel L. Davis, and Shukria Dellawar As the December 31st deadline for the U.S.-Afghan Bilateral Security Agreement gets pushed back, given unresolved disagreements over the post-2014 U.S. presence, it is clear that American clout in Kabul is not what it once […]
Drones Strikes in Pakistan Are Hurting America
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 10/25/13 By Michael Shank Irrespective of the latest reports on possible collusion between U.S. and Pakistani spy agencies, Amnesty International’s newest report on the unlawful American drone killings in Pakistan – that kill more civilians than the White House admits and could amount to war […]