Author: Michael Shank

Congressmen Seek to Lift Propaganda Ban

BUZZFEED 05/18/12 By Michael Hastings An amendment that would legalize the use of propaganda on American audiences is being inserted into the latest defense authorization bill, BuzzFeed has learned. The amendment would “strike the current ban on domestic dissemination” of propaganda material produced by the State Department and the Pentagon, […]

Michael Shank: US Peace Index Q & A

NEW PUBLIC HEALTH 05/16/12 By Fran Kritz The Institute for Economics and Peace recently released the second annual United States Peace Index, which provides an assessment of U.S. peacefulness at the state and city levels. The index authors also offer an analysis of the costs associated with violence and the […]

Rahmani Death a Blow to Afghan Peace

WASHINGTON TIMES 05/16/12 By Michael Shank I met with former Taliban government minister Moulavi Arsala Rahmani when I traveled to Afghanistan in 2009 in an unofficial capacity while serving as senior policy adviser for Rep. Michael Honda, California Democrat. What a loss Rahmani’s death is for the peace process (“Gunman […]

Study Lists Louisiana as Most Violent State

SHREVEPORT TIMES 04/26/12 By Kris Wartelle The Institute for Economics and Peace released its annual peace index Tuesday, and Louisiana makes the bottom of the list again. This is the second year the nonpartisan group has released the assessment, but according to IEP Vice President Michael Shank, the study tracked […]

What Does Cherry Blast Mean For Anacostia?

WASHINGTON CITY PAPER 04/25/12 By Shani Hilton Elahe Izadi asks a provocative question in a story at DCentric: Can a party change Anacostia? People really only go places because they have a reason, whether it’s work, friends or attractions. Nikki Palmer of Bloomingdale made her first visit to Anacostia to […]

Can A Party Change Perceptions Of Anacostia?

WAMU 04/24/12 By Elahe Izadi Trapeze artists hovered above a crowd. A band played electronic music as green lasers flashed through the room. Nearby, people created silk-screened T-shirts, a video installation played against the wall and the crowd tossed a large, clear plastic bubble filled with pink balloons in the […]

Grace on Wall Street

SOJOURNERS 04/24/12 By Michael Shank When Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman stepped up this year to defend Goldman Sachs – a company that was reeling from former employee Greg Smith’s New York Times op-ed decrying the change in culture at the company (and is now reeling from a sex-trafficking website […]

When Diplomatic Opportunities Were Dismissed

FINANCIAL TIMES 04/11/12 By Michael Shank Sir, Your editorial “Ms Rousseff Goes to Washington” (April 9), by implying illicitous cosiness between Brazil and Iran, incorrectly portrays these nations’ relationship and the reasoning behind Barack Obama’s rebuff of Brazil’s president. Claiming that Brazil’s refusal to join UN sanctions against Iran is […]

Increasing the Peace Can Reduce the Debt

ROLL CALL 04/02/12 By Michael Shank and Former Republican Congressman Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) Three months in and 2012 is setting trans-Atlantic records for harsher-than-normal austerity measures and disillusioned voters. East of the Atlantic, Greece struggles to regain footing while Portugal, Italy and Spain teeter on the brink. West of it, […]

Violence and Violence-Containment’s $460 Billion Price Tag

THE HILL 04/24/12 By Michael Shank Today (April 24), the Institute for Economics and Peace released the second annual U.S. Peace Index, which assesses America’s peacefulness at the state and city levels and analyzes the costs associated with violence and the socio-economic measures associated with peace. So just how peaceful […]