Congressional Coauthors

Prevention Better Than Punitive in Syria

CNN 08/29/13 By Michael Shank and US Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) Editor’s note: Michael Shank is director of Foreign Policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation. U.S. Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) is the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The views expressed are their own. The Americans don’t want […]

The Iran Opening

POLITICO 06/17/13 By Michael Shank and Wayne Gilchrest U.S.-Iran diplomacy got a boost recently with the White House nomination of Samantha Power as the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. While Power, who chaired President Barack Obama’s Atrocities Prevention Board, is not shy about military intervention, her work with […]

Invest in the Afghan People Not Foreign Contractors

Al Jazeera 06/03/2012 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Michael Honda (D-CA) With NATO’s meeting in Chicago two weekends ago building consensus on critical next steps vis-a-vis anticipated withdrawals and deadlines, discussion of the development agenda post-withdrawal in Afghanistan must not slip from our radar screen. The truth is that […]

America’s Next Move in Afghanistan Must Be a Non-Military One

Huffington Post 06/01/2012 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Michael Honda (D-CA) With NATO’s recent meeting in Chicago building consensus on critical next steps vis-a-vis anticipated withdrawals and deadlines, discussion of the development agenda post-withdrawal in Afghanistan must not slip from our radar screen. The truth is that development in […]

Afghanistan Exit Strategy Must Focus on Development

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 05/31/12 By Michael Shank and U.S. Representative Michael Honda (D-CA) With NATO’s meeting in Chicago two weekends ago building consensus on critical next steps vis-a-vis anticipated withdrawals and deadlines, discussion of the development agenda post-withdrawal in Afghanistan must not slip from our radar screen. The […]

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, […]

Why 2013 Budgets Won’t Cut It and the Untapped Treasury in Violence

Huffington Post 04/02/2012 By Michael Shank and Former US 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, […]

In Afghanistan, We Can Only Offer So Many Apologies

Huffington Post 03/13/2012 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) Burning Korans and urinating on dead bodies is, without question, bad diplomacy in Afghanistan, but by themselves these latest episodes did nothing to make us reconsider our timetable for leaving. We had plenty of good reasons already to […]

The U.S. Afghanistan Strategy Is Failing and It’s Time to Pull Out

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 03/06/12 CHICAGO TRIBUNE 03/07/12 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) The recent Koran burning protests are just the beginning of the problems America has in Afghanistan. That the U.S. military is burning Korans and urinating on dead bodies is, without question, bad […]