US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 10/10/13 By Michael Shank and Lawrence Wilkerson As inspectors begin destroying Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, the days and weeks ahead are absolutely critical. While we laud the progress initially instigated by talks between the U.S. and Russia, we feel strongly that our diplomatic efforts going […]
AFP 10/07/13 WASHINGTON (AFP) – By ordering risky raids against Islamic extremists in Somalia and Libya, US President Barack Obama has shown a renewed readiness to use force while trying to keep the scope limited. The twin commando operations in the lawless African states came even while the US government […]
RT 10/07/13 Secretary of State John Kerry has justified the capture by US forces of a terrorism suspect in Tripoli as ‘legal and appropriate’. He thus responded to Libya governments’ demand for explanations over what happened. Kerry has reacted to the ‘kidnapping’ complaint from the Libyan government by recommending it […]
THE GUARDIAN 10/07/13 By Michael Shank and Elizabeth Beavers America’s streets are looking more and more like a war zone. Last week, in a small county in upstate New York with a population of roughly 120,000 people, county legislators approved the receipt of a 20-ton Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 10/01/13 By Michael Shank and Vani Sathisan Last week, the Elders, led by ex-U.S. president Jimmy Carter, called for an end to impunity over the anti-Muslim attacks in Myanmar and the “meaningful realization of the right to freedom of religion.” But their three-day visit with […]
CNN 09/27/13 By Michael Shank, Matt Hoh and Danny L. Davis Editor’s note: Matthew Hoh served with the U.S. Marines in Iraq and on State Department teams in Afghanistan and Iraq and is a Senior Fellow with the Center for International Policy. Michael Shank is director of foreign policy at […]
HUFFINGTON POST 09/24/13 By Michael Shank Watching President Barack Obama’s speech to heads of state at the UN General Assembly summit this week in New York — specifically his pointed prioritization of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process — I was reminded of a column I penned with U.S. Congressman Gregory Meeks […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 09/24/13 By Michael Shank President Barack Obama’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly today deserves some fact checking. There were multiple assertions that skewed reality and are worth debunking as a result. First, Obama questioned “whether the United Nations can meet the tests of […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 09/23/13 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Paul Tonko On Friday, the Obama Administration announced greenhouse gas emission limits on new power plants. We applaud this development and appreciate the meaningful step forward it provides. Much of the conversation about this progress concerns coal-fired power […]
USA TODAY 9/23/13 By Michael Shank Focus on African security missing development needs. Last month, at the beginning of a trip to Somalia, my twitter feed started buzzing with breaking news about explosions in Mogadishu. A local rebel group, al-Shabab, claimed credit. Their tactic was fairly unsophisticated: break the Ramadan […]