WASHINGTON TIMES 05/16/12 By Michael Shank I met with former Taliban government minister Moulavi Arsala Rahmani when I traveled to Afghanistan in 2009 in an unofficial capacity while serving as senior policy adviser for Rep. Michael Honda, California Democrat. What a loss Rahmani’s death is for the peace process (“Gunman […]
FINANCIAL TIMES 04/11/12 By Michael Shank Sir, Your editorial “Ms Rousseff Goes to Washington” (April 9), by implying illicitous cosiness between Brazil and Iran, incorrectly portrays these nations’ relationship and the reasoning behind Barack Obama’s rebuff of Brazil’s president. Claiming that Brazil’s refusal to join UN sanctions against Iran is […]
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, […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 03/06/12 By Tierney Sneed Violent protests in Afghanistan after an inadvertent Koran-burning lead some to argue that it is time for America to get out Three months since withdrawing from Iraq, the Obama administration is acknowledging the challenges American forces are facing in another President […]
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 […]
THE HILL 03/01/12 By Michael Shank With Robert Zoellick stepping down from the World Bank helm, there is no better time for a development economist with solid on-the-ground and substantial international experience – like Dr. Jeffrey Sachs – to take his place. There are three clear reasons for this. The […]
FINANCIAL TIMES 11/23/11 By Michael Shank Sir, With reference to “Come on – Cuba needs help, not hindrance to progress” (November 18): as illuminated in a 98-page report this month from the Center for Democracy in the Americas, Cuba’s recent economic reforms are indicative of a new resolve. President Raúl […]
ROLL CALL 11/01/11 By Michael Shank and J.J. Messner With the excitement about Moammar Gadhafi’s downfall beginning to fade, Libya’s new management has begun governing and reconstructing the war-torn nation. Plenty of attention is being paid to the governance angle: Is the National Transitional Council a legitimate, representative body? When […]
THE GUARDIAN 08/06/11 By Michael Shank We have the evidence: the hardpressed US taxpayer is being fleeced by profiteering contractors and corrupt military personnel This past week, as US Congress quacked its way through the debt-ceiling quagmire, a seemingly non-germane offshore issue surfaced vis-a-vis Iraq. The connection between the two […]
THE GUARDIAN 07/25/11 By Michael Shank After ten years, $4tn and thousands of lives, the US needs an exit from the depressing impasse of its militarised foreign policy This month, as the Pentagon and the CIA countenance a changing of the guard – welcoming Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and CIA […]