THE HILL 05/17/11 By Michael Shank America has yet to figure out whether Turkey is friend or foe. With conflicts in Libya and Afghanistan, and tsunamis in Japan and Indonesia, Turkey’s generous military and aid contribution pleases Washington. With Armenia, Israel and Iran, however, Turkey spurns Washington for refusing the […]
Author: Michael Shank
Islam’s Nonviolent Tradition
THE NATION 04/27/11 By Michael Shank This article appeared in the May 16, 2011 edition of The Nation. As the world witnesses revolution erupting throughout North Africa and the Middle East and watches autocrats give way to people power, there is increasing fascination in the West with the nonviolent nature […]
Why Washington Must Look to Ankara
THE GUARDIAN 05/15/11 By Michael Shank Turkey’s economic strength and diplomatic stature are growing fast. The US needs to nurture closer ties. America has yet to figure out whether Turkey is friend or foe. With conflicts in Libya and Afghanistan, and tsunamis in Japan and Indonesia, Turkey’s generous military and […]
GPPAC Media Training Manual
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR THE PREVENTION OF ARMED CONFLICT 02/11 By Michael Shank Download Media Training Manual in ENGLISH, ARABIC, CHINESE, RUSSIAN, FRENCH, and SPANISH. PREFACE Welcome to the GPPAC’s Media Training Manual The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) is a world-wide civil society-led network which aims […]
Bush’s True Legacy in Egypt
THE HILL 02/02/11 By Michael Shank The protests in Egypt must be understood within the prism of past policy in Washington, specifically President George W. Bush’s policy. While U.S. policies in the Middle East have never been dependable, let alone consistent, many conservatives in Washington this week, including former Bush […]
A Real December Review for Afghanistan
THE NATION 01/03/11 By Greg Kaufmann The War in Afghanistan is the longest in US history [1], at 110 months, and the most expensive, at $1 million per soldier and over $100 billion annually. There have been over 2,200 [2] US and coalition casualties, and tens of thousands of Afghan […]
Victims of Religious Violence
RELIGION & VIOLENCE: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAITH AND CONFLICT 12/10 By Michael Shank and Courtney Erwin REFERENCE REVIEWS of “Victims of Religious Violence” Chapter: “Two over-arching essays – on terrorism and on victims – give us a welcome steer here on what is what…Victims come in all shapes and sizes […]
A New Way Forward: Rethinking U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan
A NEW WAY FORWARD: THE REPORT 08/2010 By The Afghanistan Study Group At nine years and counting, the U.S. war in Afghanistan is the longest in our history, surpassing even the Vietnam War, and it will shortly surpass the Soviet Union’s own extended military campaign there. With the surge, it […]
Restarting Relations with Venezuela
WASHINGTON TIMES 03/26/10 By Michael Shank Traveling recently in a congressional staff delegation to Venezuela, I found my experience was not too dissimilar from my previous experiences in Syria and Iran. This is not to say that I am aggregating these three states into some kind of axis-of-evil or rogue […]
Americans Find a Rash of Contradictions in Venezuela
ROLL CALL 03/24/10 By Michael Shank Traveling recently on a Congressional staff delegation to Venezuela, my experience was not too dissimilar from my previous experiences in Syria and Iran. This is not to say that I am aggregating these three states into some kind of axis-of-evil or rogue state conglomerate, […]