Foreign Policy in Focus 09/25/2007 By Michael Shank and Shukria Dellawar Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai recently came out swinging at the West again, this time on the topic of opium eradication. Responding to the latest UN report showing an opium production increase of 17% in 2007, Karzai accused the international […]
Author: Michael Shank
Pioneers Can Secure Our Future
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH 09/13/07 By Michael Shank and US Representative Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) Russia, Canada, and the United States are rushing to the North Pole in a pioneer-like land grab for an estimated 25 percent of the world’s unknown oil and gas reserves. One wonders when we will learn. Oil and […]
Wal-Mart is Walking the Walk on Sustainability
FINANCIAL TIMES 09/12/07 By Michael Shank Sir, With reference to “Soft soap? Why the greening of Wal-Mart may hinder the way to a sustainable world” (September 10): it should be a soft sell for the unconverted. Preaching with no less flair than a southern Baptist preacher, Arkansas’ Wal-Mart is leading […]
Wal-Mart is Walking the Walk on Sustainability
Financial Times 09/12/2007 By Michael Shank Sir, With reference to “Soft soap? Why the greening of Wal-Mart may hinder the way to a sustainable world” (September 10): it should be a soft sell for the unconverted. Preaching with no less flair than a southern Baptist preacher, Arkansas’ Wal-Mart is leading […]
Plenty of Candidates, Yet No One to Vote for
Arab News 08/22/2007 By Michael Shank The winner of the 2008 United States presidential election is going to be the most expensive candidate ever. Estimates gauge that the road to the White House will have cost a total of $1 billion. What else is unprecedented about the 2008 Oval Office […]
Talking Tough: How Obama Can Fight Extremism in Pakistan
International Herald Tribune/Daily Star Egypt 08/14/2007 By Michael Shank For those of us who believe in diplomacy, Senator Barack Obama’s recent pledge to dialogue with Cuba, North Korea and Iran offered a much-needed ray of hope. Amidst the security tough-talk by Democratic presidential hopefuls, at least one leading candidate was […]
A Chance to Improve Mental Health Services for Virginians
Richmond Times-Dispatch 08/14/2007 By Michael Shank and Sandra Cheldelin Virginia Tech’s tragedy remains a stark reminder for those working in emergency medical services — particularly in mental health — that existing detection and response systems are dysfunctional. As exemplified all too painfully in the case of Tech’s Seung-Hui Cho, the […]
Somalia, It Is Time To Open Your Doors
International Herald Tribune/Daily Star Egypt 08/12/2007 By Michael Shank and Samatalis Haille Prominent Somali intellectuals and parliamentarians from sub-clans once constituting the core of the defeated Islamic Courts Union claim that old rivals are dominating the government and unwilling to share power. Oddly, the international community tolerates this refusal and […]
Learning Nothing From Iraq, Democrats Charge Forward to Pakistan
News International 08/06/2007 By Michael Shank United States Presidential Candidate and Senator Barack Obama’s speech on August 1, 2007 at the Wilson Center, a think tank in Washington D.C., confirmed what many feared: the Democrats will continue, unabated, a war on terror that bears exact resemblance to the one waged […]
Reducing Taliban Recruitment by Development
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE OPERATIONS Vol. 3, No. 1, July-Aug 07 By Michael Shank United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ recent commentary that “things are slowly, cautiously headed in the right direction” in Afghanistan convinced very few. General Dan McNeill, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, seconded the […]