FOX NEWS 05/28/13 By Michael Shank and Kathy Zager United States-Russia diplomacy is finally making headway on Syria. Monday, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Paris to discuss their joint proposal for peace talks, they were encouraged by news over the […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 05/24/13 By Michael Shank and Matthew Southworth As President Barack Obama defended the nation’s ever-evolving counter-terrorism policy yesterday at the National Defense University and opened the parameters for military action in places outside of the traditional battlefield, the risk of writing into law permission for […]
USA TODAY 05/24/13 By Michael Shank Armed drones, at first blush, are a boon to America’s military toolkit, as President Obama reinforced in his counterterrorism speech on Thursday. Drones, in the short run at least, could mean fewer U.S. troops deployed and fewer American lives lost. Unsurprisingly, the appeal is […]
THE GUARDIAN 05/05/13 By Michael Shank and Matt Southworth A handful of Democratic and Republican senators are considering a rewrite of 60 of the most consequential words to ever pass through Congress. The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), passed after the attacks of 11 September 2001, and provides […]
THE HILL 04/29/13 By Michael Shank and Sabina Dewan The World Bank has always focused on poverty reduction; it is their stated mission to ‘help reduce poverty’. But actually ending it, with a target date, was never their explicit goal, until now. In Washington, at their annual spring meeting last […]
CNN 04/26/13 By Michael Shank and Madeline Rose One year ago this week, President Barack Obama launched the Atrocities Prevention Board to find ways to get ahead of the kind of crisis we’re seeing in Syria, and the kind we witnessed in Darfur and Rwanda. The board’s aim is to […]
FOX NEWS 02/25/13 By Michael Shank President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set the stage last week for Japan’s inclusion in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade bloc that includes 11 nations but excludes China. With this move, the US has set a dangerous precedent and one […]
AL JAZEERA 12/16/13 By Michael Shank The foreign policy docket of President Barack Obama’s second term seems to be giving short shrift to the security threats of the next four years. This is not merely because the US intelligence and defence agencies continue to be wracked with scandal, thanks to […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 11/29/12 By Michael Shank A new report shows irresponsible spending by the Defense Department in Afghanistan. This month, hidden amid election excitement, a report was delivered to Congress by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Likely few in Washington read it. The U.S. war […]
THE GUARDIAN 11/26/12 By Michael Shank The occupation of Afghanistan costs US taxpayers $10bn a month, and millions in corruption. Yet Congress is oblivious. This month, hidden amid election excitement, a report was delivered to Congress by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar). Likely, few in Washington read […]