US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 05/29/14 By Michael Shank and Elizabeth Beavers It’s time to end the president’s ability to wage nearly limitless war. Congress finally appears to be realizing that it has been providing neither checks nor balances to the president’s war powers for the last 13 years. While […]
Diplomacy
Yemen’s Chaos
NATIONAL REVIEW 05/22/14 By Michael Shank The drone memo matters, but what the West is failing to do on the ground matters more. In Washington, D.C., it is rare for any adversarial country to remain in the forefront of foreign policy for very long. Yemen is an excellent example of […]
EU-US Free Trade Zone ‘Deeply Problematic’ Without Developing Economies
RIA NOVOSTI 05/20/14 NEW YORK, May 20 (RIA Novosti) – It is “deeply problematic” for the EU and the US to promote a free trade zone deal that eschews big developing economies, according to a legislation expert for the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker lobby group. Supporters of […]
Dirt on Our Hands
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 04/29/14 By Michael Shank and Daniel L. Davis Before allowing pride to further cloud sound judgment in global engagement, it is critical for America to bring back into balance an appropriate recognition of our country’s strengths – and a sober recognition of its weaknesses – […]
Why I’m Going to Yemen
HUFFINGTON POST 04/25/14 By Michael Shank Following on the heels of the “massive and unprecedented” U.S. drone strikes in Yemen this month, which killed scores of Yemenis, I’m headed there for a week’s worth of research. Admittedly, the timing isn’t great as al-Qaeda is likely keen to counter the Obama […]
Experts to Analyze Ukraine Crisis, Crimea Conflict
MASON NEWS 04/21/14 By Buzz McClain The drama of the conflict in Crimea comes to Arlington on April 23 when representatives from Ukraine and Russia share the stage during a program called “Beyond Crimea: The Evolution of the Crisis in Ukraine.” The April 23 forum will include — in addition […]
How to Resolve the Crisis in Ukraine
CDN 04/18/14 By Michael Shank WASHINGTON, April 18, 2014 — The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) urges Congress, the Obama administration and policymakers throughout the European Union to adopt policies toward the Ukraine crisis that deescalate the conflict while providing a constructive path forward. The diplomatic deal struck this […]
Ukraine Diplomatic Deal: Necessary Next Steps
HUFFINGTON POST 04/17/14 By Michael Shank The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) urges Congress, the Obama administration and policymakers throughout the European Union to adopt policies toward the Ukraine crisis that deescalate the conflict while providing a constructive path forward. The diplomatic deal struck this week by diplomats from […]
The Dangers of Soft Power
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 04/14/14 By Michael Shank The United States Department of Defense used it recently in Yemen and Pakistan. The U.S. State Department is using it right now in Afghanistan and Nigeria. The U.S. Agency for International Development used it in the last elections in Kenya. It’s […]
How to Defuse the Ukraine Crisis
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 03/31/14 By Michael Shank Returning in March from transatlantic dialogues in Poland and Germany in which I and other policy types from Washington discussed the situation in Ukraine and Crimea with our policymaking counterparts from Warsaw, Berlin and Kiev, there is little question that we […]