UNITED NATIONS 03/30/15 The day’s third panel discussion was entitled, “Voices from the real economy”. Moderated by Michael Shank, Director of Media Strategy, Climate Nexus, and Senior Fellow, JustJobs Network, it featured Nomvuzo Shabalala, Deputy Mayor of Durban, South Africa; Sanjay Kumar, Director, Self-Employed Women’s Association, Bharat, India; Vicenta Trotman, […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
ROLL CALL 10/28/08 By Michael Shank and U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) On Nov. 4, America will celebrate the close of the most unprecedented presidential campaign in history. On several accounts past precedent has been handily usurped. Most notable: This was our nation’s most expensive campaign yet, surpassing $1 billion […]
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH 08/10/08 By Michael Shank and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) In the tradition of politically charged Olympics of the past, the 2008 summer games in Beijing have become an arena to contest some of the world’s most egregious conflicts. From concerns over China’s crackdown on Tibetan rights to the […]
FINANCIAL TIMES 07/01/08 By Michael Shank Sir, Let us for a moment consider the merits of engagement (“A very small step: Pyongyang’s nuclear declaration is no breakthrough”, editorial, June 27). Three successes in 2008 are particularly salient and worth citing. US ambassador Christopher Hill’s persistent diplomatic penetration of North Korea’s […]
FINANCIAL TIMES 05/16/08 By Michael Shank Sir, Heavy on protestation, light on substance, Robert Kagan’s call for a concert of democratic countries begs a hypothetical test run (“The case for a league of democracies”, May 14). Test three of the globe’s burning blisters – genocide, climate change and human rights […]
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR 03/24/08 By Michael Shank and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) The United Nations tackled the task of troubleshooting climate change last month. Between holding special General Assembly meetings at headquarters in New York, bringing 100 environmental ministers to Monaco in the largest meeting of ministers since Bali, and […]
FINANCIAL TIMES 02/15/08 By Michael Shank Sir, Paddy Ashdown still does not get it. His three-pronged policy prescription for Afghanistan (“A strategy to save Afghanistan”, February 13), while meritorious on many levels, nowhere implies consultation with Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai. This approach, unfortunately, is consistent with years of interventionist neglect […]